Worth the Wait
by lilyvandersteen
Summary: Kurt and Blaine meet at a music festival, hit it off straightaway and spend a wonderful night together, but come morning, Blaine finds Kurt gone. On the nightstand is a ring, hiding clues as to where Kurt can be found. Intrigued, Blaine strives to solve the riddle, only to find the challenges don't end there... Fairy tale Klaine AU.
1. Chapter 1: Glad I Bumped into You

**Author's Note:**

 **So... I'm back, after a long hiatus (sorry), and it's a new story, instead of the next WYM chapter (still stuck on that one, sorry again). I hope you'll give this fic a try anyway. I wrote it for the Todaydreambelievers fic exchange challenge, and it's a gift for mshoneysucklepink on Tumblr.**

 **This was her prompt: "Kurt and Blaine meet at a summer music festival and have sexy times, think it's a one-time thing, but of course they run into each other, hey they both live in NYC, good thing because that sex was AMAZING and they couldn't forget it if they tried. And hey, maybe they are also fae/mage?"**

 **I've taken some liberties with the prompt, though. They meet at a festival, yes, and they have sexy times, yes, and yes, the sex was AMAZING, but seeing as Kurt is a fae prince, and Blaine is his soulmate, they can't just run into each other again. The story will have a fairy-talish vibe :-)**

 **Many thanks to my wonderful beta, hkvoyage/voyageasia, who agreed to look this story over for me, even though fairy tales are not her cup of tea, and she had to look up all the storybook creatures I mentioned :-) Thank you, sweetie, I really appreciate your help!**

 **I've drawn inspiration from the following stories:**

 **\- The Tale of the Three Feathers, as recorded by the Brothers Grimm**

 **\- Krabat, by Otfried Preussler**

 **\- Buffalo Woman, by Paul Goble**

 **\- The Blue Deer or the Love Story of Rushvanshad and Fairy Queen Shahrastani, as written down by Endre Vazszonyi**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Glad I Bumped Into You

At the SummerStage Festival, Blaine was bouncing around happily, lost in the music, his arms flailing around and his eyes closed. He wasn't paying any attention to the people around him, and it wasn't until he bounced into something hard and felt himself lose his balance that he snapped his eyes open again.

A split second before that, however, a flood of warmth had rushed through him and a slideshow of pictures had flashed through his brain. They felt like memories, though Blaine was sure he'd never seen anything exactly like that before: a ring glowing with a bright blue light, a cat turning its head to the right and purring in ecstasy as Blaine scratched behind its left ear and finally a stunning blue-eyed man looking incredibly sad.

When Blaine opened his eyes after that visual onslaught, he did a double-take. The wall he thought he'd hit turned out to be a man, whose strong arms had immediately shot out and kept him from falling on his butt. Not only that, but it was the blue-eyed beauty from the vision he'd just had.

"You okay?"

 _Right… I should probably stop staring like a creep and apologize for having waltzed straight into him…_

Blaine laughed sheepishly and nodded. "Sorry, should have kept my eyes open!"

The man grinned back. He really was gorgeous. Tall and lean, great biceps, a killer jawline and striking eyes. Now that Blaine could see them up close, he noticed that there was green and grey in them as well as blue, and a few gold flecks.

 _I need to bump into people more often. And ooooh, would you look at that butt? Delicious…_

"Have you seen _Los Cafres_ in concert before?" Blue-Eyes shouted over the music.

Blaine shook his head. "First time. Love them, though!"

"Me too!"

Blaine pointed at the empty solo cup Blue-Eyes was holding. "Want a refill? On me, 'cause I bumped into you."

Blue-Eyes nodded and handed him his cup.

When Blaine returned with two beers, the band was taking a break, and he decided it was only polite to introduce himself. "I'm Blaine, by the way."

"Kurt. Nice to meet you, Blaine."

"You too."

"I've never seen you at the SummerStage Festival before," Kurt remarked.

Blaine laughed. "You caught me. I'm a newbie all right. I've been calling NYC home for a few years now, but somehow I'm never here in summer."

"I come here every year," Kurt said. It sounded a bit wistful.

 _Maybe he used to come here with a boyfriend and now they've broken up? Well, if I can cheer him up, I will…_

True to his resolve, Blaine stuck to Kurt for the remainder of the concert, and they stayed in Central Park long after it was over, walking and chatting about everything and nothing. Kurt was very easy to talk to, and Blaine found himself chatting with his new friend as if he'd known him since kindergarten. At long last, though, Blaine glanced at his watch and gasped. "It's three in the morning!"

"Do you have somewhere to be tomorrow morning?" Kurt asked. "Or, later today, I should say."

"No, nothing like that. It's just… We've been talking for hours! I didn't think it had been so long."

Blaine's body, intent on reiterating the message, made him yawn hugely.

Kurt laughed. "I guess it's time for us to say goodnight and goodbye, then?"

Blaine, his heart sinking at the thought of Kurt leaving him, impulsively took Kurt's hand in his. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"You come home with me?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing has to happen if you don't want it to, but… I don't want to say goodbye to you just yet."

Blaine paired his plea with his most beseeching pout, and Kurt laughed again.

"Okay, lead the way."

Once they were in Blaine's apartment, Blaine took Kurt's jacket, hung it up alongside his own and offered Kurt a drink.

"Better make that a tall glass of water, and have one yourself, too," Kurt advised Blaine. "Or else we'll feel like death in the morning."

They sat on the sofa and sipped their water. The silence didn't feel uncomfortable, but the air felt somehow charged with electricity. Blaine kept glancing at Kurt's lips as though they pulled him in like a magnet, and it didn't help when Kurt actually wet them and ran his tongue over his lower lip lingeringly.

Later on, Blaine wouldn't remember who made the first move, but the next thing he knew, they were kissing as if their lives depended on it. Kurt lay on top of Blaine, and far from resenting that weight, Blaine suddenly craved it, and whined when Kurt sat up to take his shirt off. After that, Kurt undid the buttons of Blaine's shirt, all the while running his hand teasingly over Blaine's chest.

"Patience!" Kurt laughed, when Blaine pulled them flush together again as soon as his shirt was all the way open, not even taking the time to shrug it off first.

Blaine shut Kurt up by fusing their lips with a searing kiss and clamping his legs around Kurt's waist for good measure. He ran his hands all over Kurt's back, exploring ever inch. Kurt seemed to like that, if his moans were any indication, only wriggling away and giggling when Blaine reached his sides. "Not there! That tickles!"

Filing that away for later use, Blaine flipped them over so that Kurt lay on his back now, and immediately started to mouth over Kurt's neck, going up, up, up until he reached Kurt's left ear. Blaine traced the shell of the ear with his pointer finger, which made Kurt gasp and turn his head to the right to offer Blaine better access.

Blaine grinned. _Oh, you like that, do you?_

Blaine ran his tongue over Kurt's ear, making Kurt shudder. Then he nibbled on the earlobe for a moment, and then licked behind the ear. Kurt whimpered, and Blaine's grin grew wider. _That's the spot, is it?_

Apparently, it was. The more Blaine licked and sucked behind Kurt's ear, the more Kurt moaned and gasped and trembled, so Blaine really went to town on that particular spot, until there was a purplish mark and Kurt, his pupils blown, pink spots high on his cheeks, keening and writhing, seemed seconds away from coming.

The sight made Blaine's dick throb and insist on more nakedness, now, so Blaine popped the button of his trousers. Kurt's eyes widened, and Blaine whispered, "Is this okay?"

Kurt swallowed and then nodded feverishly, his hands coming up to Blaine's hips to pull Blaine's jeans off, and - _Oh!_ \- his boxers too, in one go.

"Y-you too," Blaine stammered, feeling a bit self-conscious under Kurt's scrutiny, though Kurt seemed to like what he saw well enough, staring at Blaine's dick and ass with a cat-that-got-the-cream smile.

"Feel free," said Kurt huskily, gesturing to his belt.

Taking Kurt's trousers off proved to be a challenge. They were so tight that Blaine had to tug ridiculously hard to get them to move down just an inch.

Kurt laughed, lifted his hips and slid the trousers to mid-thigh in one go.

"How did you do that?" Blaine asked, but Kurt just laughed again and told him to get on with it.

Blaine obeyed the order and got the infernal trousers off. The tiny boxer briefs Kurt was wearing underneath proved much less of a challenge, and then Blaine found himself staring, too, because a naked Kurt was a sight to behold. Legs that went on for miles. All that creamy skin that just begged to be worshipped. Birth marks all over Kurt's body that needed to be mapped out. A butt that looked just as delicious _au naturel_ as it had in skin-tight jeans. And, of course, a dick that made Blaine salivate, so he didn't hesitate and just sank his mouth down over it. _Ah, bliss!_

In no time, Kurt was thrashing about as wildly as he had been before, and Blaine laid a restraining arm over Kurt's stomach to keep him from bucking up and choking Blaine.

"Blaine… Blaine… I'm gonna… I'm gonna… Aaaah!" was the only warning Blaine got before his mouth was filled to overflowing. Blaine managed to swallow most of it, but some dribbled down his chin. Before he could get embarrassed about that, however, Kurt had grabbed Blaine's face in both hands and licked his chin clean. Then he kissed Blaine enthusiastically, pushing him down on the couch cushions and letting his hands roam.

Blaine jolted in surprise at Kurt's fingers trailing over his perineum, and bucked up in response.

"Do you have any...?" Kurt asked.

"In the bedroom," Blaine answered. That seemed much too far away at the moment. He wanted to stay on the sofa and have an orgasm too, please and thank you very much.

Kurt, however, was on his feet already, and tugged Blaine up. "Come on. Bedroom!"

Blaine followed reluctantly, sparing a brief thought wondering how Kurt had managed to make a bee line for the bedroom as though he'd been living in Blaine's apartment for years. But then Kurt pushed Blaine onto his bed, which had been divested of its comforter already - _When did Kurt do that?_ \- and all thoughts flew out of Blaine's head.

Kurt found the lube without any prompting from Blaine and started to prep Blaine, his other hand and his mouth exploring, his every touch electrifying. Thanks to Kurt's skilful fingers finding all of Blaine's sweet spots, Blaine found himself on the edge in no time.

"Now… Please… I need you… Now!" Blaine panted, and Kurt nodded and opened the nightstand drawer again for a condom, which he put on quickly. Then he draped himself over Blaine, smiling at him sweetly, and pushed in. Blaine closed his eyes and focussed on relaxing, so that the burning feeling would fade and it would start feeling good.

"Do you need me to hold still for a bit?" Kurt offered.

"No, no. Just… Go slow, at first."

"Okay."

Kurt started to move, and ooh… That felt amazing. Blaine put his legs around Kurt's waist again, and the change in angle made Kurt hit Blaine's prostate with every thrust, so Blaine begged him to go faster and harder. Kurt complied, and for a few minutes, there was no other sound than rhythmic slapping and laboured breath. Blaine closed his eyes, lost in the pleasure he was feeling, and his orgasm sneaked up on him suddenly, making him cry out and cling to Kurt even harder. Kurt kept snapping his hips, working Blaine through his orgasm. When Blaine started to whimper from over-sensitiveness, Kurt thrust one last time, shuddered and came, falling onto Blaine like a heavy blanket. Blaine welcomed the warm weight, though, and nuzzled the crook of Kurt's neck drowsily, happiness filling him up like a helium balloon.

After a bit, Kurt made to get up, but Blaine pulled him back down. "Stay. Please. Stay."

"We need to get cleaned up," Kurt countered. "I'll be right back."

"And then you'll stay?" Blaine slurred, half asleep already, but Kurt had left already and didn't answer.

Blaine vaguely felt Kurt wipe off his stomach, but after that, he was out like a light.


	2. Chapter 2: There You Are

**Author's Note:**

 **This chapter is from Burt's and Kurt's point of view and offers a bit more explanation about what's going on, exactly. Slightly angsty, but I promise you my stories always have a happy ending.**

Chapter 2: There You Are

"Where are you going?" Burt growled. "There's a delegation of selkies in the ballroom, waiting to be entertained. I did the politics part of the job this morning and this afternoon, and now it's your turn, Kurt. They've come all the way from Iceland…"

"The Faroe Islands," Kurt corrected absently, checking his hair in the mirror and smoothing a few wrinkles out of his vest.

"Right," said Burt, "and you know they don't feel comfortable outside of their seal skins for too long, so we owe it to them to make their stay here as pleasant as possible. Keep them happy until they leave tomorrow. I hired that band you like. Dance with the selkies, maybe sing them a song or two. You know they love your voice."

Kurt shook his head. "I can't. I have a date with my soulmate tonight."

Burt groaned. "Not again… Stay, bud, come on. Help your old man out. You will know what to talk about with them. I'm at a loss. Werewolves, I'm comfortable with, 'cause I get what it's like to be a wolf, and tree nymphs, I can deal with, 'cause your mother was one. But these water creatures are beyond me. I've never shape-shifted into anything other than a mammal or a bird. You have. You shape-shifted into a seal when we went to visit them a few summers back and swum with them for days."

Kurt sighed. "Dad… You'll manage. Brittany came with us that summer and swum with the selkies too. She loves turning into a dolphin. That's close enough. Why don't you ask her help? You know she'd be happy to."

Burt grimaced. "Your cousin's sweet, she is, but she says the weirdest things. I don't want King Flóki to think we're crazy. "

Kurt rolled his eyes. "She's a good dancer, and she'll keep them entertained while I'm gone, that's the main thing."

Burt took his cap off and ran his hand over his head. "Don't do this to me, Kurt, come on. You know how easily offended the Einarssons are! Don't run away now! I need you."

"This is the night I could meet my soulmate, Dad."

Burt huffed. "He never comes! You've gone to that festival for years and years, and he never shows up. You can try for your soulmate again next year."

Kurt's spine went rigid, his chin went up and his eyes flashed. "What if this is the year he actually shows up, and I'm not there, and I miss out on my soulmate forever? I'm not taking that risk. Ask Brittany to talk and dance with them, and ask Rachel to sing for them, you know she'll be thrilled. The selkies will love her voice just as much as mine. They might even like it better. She's part siren, after all. Remember how she lured in Finn while he was still seeing that blonde naiad?"

Burt chuckled and nodded. "He looked as though he'd been clubbed over the head with a baseball bat."

Kurt smirked. "Even more so than usual, you mean. But yes, Rachel wrapped him around her finger in no time. They got married - what was it? Two weeks after they met? So I'm sure she'll enchant our guests with her voice. And I'll be back in the morning, in time to see the Einarssons off. Promise."

"Kurt…" Burt began, but he let the sentence trail off when he saw his son stalk out of the room.

Burt sighed. _Rachel it is, then…_

K&B

Kurt liked the band that was playing. Their music was fun and relaxing and made everyone dance, whether they had a talent for that or not.

The man closest to Kurt definitely lacked that talent. Or maybe he was just VERY drunk. Anyway, Kurt was enjoying the back view the man provided. He had a very cute butt, and the way he wiggled it made Kurt's trousers tighten.

The band started to play a new song, and Kurt's cutie whooped in joy and started bouncing around, actually bouncing, for all the world as though he were Tigger. And then he turned around, and Kurt froze in place, his mouth agape and his eyes tearing up.

 _There you are._

This was the soulmate Kurt had been looking for. The one who had been popping up in Kurt's dreams for years and years. The exact same curls Kurt kept running his hands through in every scene his dreams conjured up. The exact same grin on his face that never failed to make Kurt's stomach swoop. And though Mr Bouncy's eyes were closed, Kurt was sure they had the colour of a mossy forest glade in the autumn.

The discovery left Kurt so perplexed that he didn't notice Mr Bouncy coming closer and closer until the two of them collided, and Kurt's arms instinctively wrapped around the other's waist. As soon as their bodies touched, Kurt felt a rush of energy go through him, and his head was filled with visions he'd never seen before. First, he saw his soulmate lying on a bed and pulling Kurt on top of him, eyes full of joy, pleading for Kurt to stay. Next, Kurt saw himself transformed into a cat and forced to behave exactly like the other fifty occupants of the room while his soulmate was right there in front of him, trying his best to tell Kurt apart from the others. The last scene that flashed through Kurt's brain was the most disturbing one: his soulmate having dinner with another man, a first date if their halting conversation and uncomfortable fidgeting were anything to go by.

Yes, this was definitely the man Kurt had been looking for, though the last part of Kurt's vision crushed him. The very thought of his soulmate slipping away from him just about ripped Kurt's heart out.

 _No! Please no! I know it's not going to be easy, but please don't give up on me. I've been looking for you forever._

Mr Bouncy opened his eyes, and yes, there was the warm brown-green-gold from Kurt's dreams, and Kurt's breath stuttered.

As soon as he'd pulled himself together again, Kurt struck up a conversation with Mr Bouncy, whose name proved to be Blaine. Blaine was sweet and dorky and interesting, and Kurt could have kept talking with him forever and a day. Clearly, Blaine felt the same, but fatigue caught up with him in the early morning hours, making him yawn adorably.

Kurt, suddenly fearful that this was it, and he'd never see Blaine again, reluctantly offered to say goodbye and leave.

 _This whole soulmate thing scares me to death. I can't afford to mess this up, but I'm almost certain to. Why does everything have to be so complicated?_

Blaine, however, reached for Kurt's hand and ever so shyly invited Kurt to his apartment. One thing led to another, and before Kurt knew it, he was putting his clothes back on, watching a sleeping Blaine smile serenely on top of the rumpled bed linen.

Kurt sighed deeply. Blaine had asked him to stay, just like in his vision, and Kurt really wanted to, but he couldn't. All Kurt could do was leave his heirloom ring behind and hope with all his heart that it would lead Blaine back to him.

Kurt fastened the last button of his jacket and then stepped towards the bed again. His hand hovered over Blaine's face for a second, to brush a stray curl away from Blaine's forehead, but Kurt forced his arm away, and contented himself with pulling the comforter over Blaine so that he wouldn't get cold. Blaine snuggled into the comforter, humming happily, and Kurt shied away. It wouldn't do for Blaine to wake up now.

Kurt put his ring on top of the nightstand, closed the curtains so that Blaine wouldn't wake up too early, and tiptoed out of the bedroom and the apartment.

Once outside, Kurt's tears fell fast and heavy. Tears of relief that he had found his soulmate at last, but also tears born of frustration and the unshakeable fear that he would never see Blaine again. Now that Kurt had found Blaine, he was forbidden to seek him out again. Blaine had to find Kurt this time around, and prove himself a worthy companion to the king's son and heir. If he didn't…

Kurt shuddered.

 _Please don't leave me alone for all eternity!_


	3. Chapter 3: Where Can I Find You?

**Author's Note: Blaine's point of view again :-)**

Chapter 3: Where Can I Find You?

Blaine woke up with a pounding head. Groaning, he sat up gingerly, scratching his belly, which felt itchy for some reason. When he was reasonably sure he wouldn't throw up as soon as he tried walking, he got up, yawned and stretched until his joints popped, and made his way to the kitchen. He raided his fridge and pantry for a greasy breakfast, and as soon as the bacon was sizzling merrily next to the eggs, hash browns and baked beans, he plopped down on a kitchen chair, his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, and closed his eyes again.

 _Ugh… Just how late was it when I came home? I feel like I've barely slept. And I've clearly been drinking way too much. I'm glad I didn't have plans for today._

Blaine got up again and slouched to the sink to fill himself a glass of water.

 _I should have drunk water and taken ibuprofen as soon as I came home. Why didn't I? I'm not usually so careless. Also, I don't usually drink more than one beer. Why did I drink so much yesterday?_

And then the glass slipped from Blaine's fingers and clattered into the sink as Blaine remembered.

 _Kurt!_

Blaine ran to the living room, but the only clothes on and around the sofa were Blaine's.

Blaine took his phone out of his jacket, and checked if Kurt had left his number. He hadn't.

Cursing under his breath, Blaine checked if Kurt had left a message on the coffee table, on Blaine's desk, on the kitchen table or on the counter. But there was no trace of Kurt anywhere, and the bacon was calling Blaine's name, so Blaine focussed on breakfast first. Ransacking the rest of his apartment would have to wait until later.

Fortified by a generous plateful of greasy food washed down with two glasses of water, Blaine trudged back to his bedroom to open the curtains and the window and to change his bedding, pausing to sniff the sheets to see if they smelled like Kurt. They didn't.

Blaine sighed deeply, and was just about to pick an outfit from his closet and head to the bathroom when the sun peeked through the clouds and lit up the whole room. Blaine winced and narrowed his eyes to slits when the full force of the sunbeams reflecting from his white closet doors hit him and made his head pound anew. The white was so blinding that he saw spots before his eyes. The weird thing, though, was that the spots were blue, not black. And they didn't fade away as Blaine's eyes adjusted to the light. Where did that twinkling blue come from?

Blaine turned around and sucked in a sharp breath when he noticed something on his nightstand he'd never seen there before. It was a ring with a big blue gemstone, glowing and sparkling in the sunlight.

Blaine crossed the room in three long strides, picked up the ring and cradled it in the palm of his hand to check it out from all sides.

It looked old. Very old. The metal had grown dull, and there were scratches in it, and even a dent or two. Even so, it was beautiful, melded into an intricate design that, if Blaine wasn't mistaken, had a Native American feel to it. The stone was cut, but not in any of the usual forms. The cutting had been minimal, just to make the stone shine and catch the light.

Blaine's mother would certainly turn up her nose for a stone like that, and pronounce it an amateur job and a waste of a good sapphire. Blaine, however, would have to disagree with her on that count. An amateur would certainly not have been able to engrave a detailed picture at the bottom of the stone. A picture, moreover, that moved and morphed into another when Blaine turned the ring this way and that. The main picture was of a man. When Blaine turned the ring to the left, though, the man turned into a wolf. Then Blaine turned the ring to the right, and the man morphed into an eagle.

Inside, the ring wore an inscription in an unknown language and flowing script. Next to it was a more recent addition. Neat modern lettering read "Manna-hata Forest".

Blaine raised an eyebrow.

 _Looks like I have some Googling to do._

K&B

Blaine ran a hand through his curls and huffed in frustration. Nothing. He'd been searching the internet for hours and he'd found absolutely nothing about the "Manna-hata Forest". Nada. Zilch.

He'd read about Manna-hata being the original name for Manhattan, in the language of the Lenape, which was called Unami. Blaine had always thought that was a savoury taste, or was that umami?

Being a language enthusiast, Blaine had clicked through to the Wikipedia page about the Unami language, and had then studied the ring again. Yes, the older part of the inscription was surely written in Unami. That didn't bring him any closer to finding Kurt, though.

Then Blaine had looked up Lenape stories, and though they were fascinating and explained why the ring showed pictures of an eagle and a wolf, none of them mentioned the Manna-hata Forest.

Blaine's stomach growled, and when he checked his watch, he saw that it was past 6 PM already.

 _Wow, I've wasted an entire day. Didn't get into bed until well in the morning, got up in the early afternoon and then trawled the internet for the rest of the day. Didn't even shower or get dressed. Huh. And I know I haven't done anything productive, but I'm just plain exhausted._

Blaine had a pizza delivered and devoured it in record time, zapping idly through TV channels until he caught himself nodding off and called it bedtime.

After a long hot shower, he stepped out of the bathroom, meaning to head straight to bed, but something made him turn around and fetch Kurt's ring first.

As he slid under the covers, he tried on the ring. It was a perfect fit. Blaine put his hand next to his head on the pillow, and stared at the ring, which gave off a soft blue glow. Did gems store up sunlight and then emit it later? Whatever the explanation, the light was very soothing and lulled Blaine to sleep, but not before he made Kurt a silent promise in his head.

 _Whatever it takes, I'm going to find you again, Kurt. I think you want me to, or else you wouldn't have left me your ring._


	4. Chapter 4: Scared of Losing You

**Author's Note:**

 **This is written from Burt's and Kurt's point of view, and it's rather angsty again.**

Chapter 4: Scared of Losing You

"Took you long enough," Burt growled when Kurt strode into the king's reception room five minutes late for the official farewell ceremony, hair and clothes impeccable, but red-eyed and even paler than usual.

When Kurt didn't roll his eyes at his father and even sent him a wan smile, alarm bells went off in Burt's head.

 _The moment we've seen off King Flóki and his delegation, my son and I are going to have a chat. What on earth is going on now? I haven't seen him this way since he broke up with that annoying pixie that never stopped talking. What was his name again? Like that guy from Friends… The awkward one. I'm glad that didn't last. That kid could talk the hind leg off a donkey. Also, I hated that Kurt kept shape-shifting into a pixie and I had to keep watching out so that I didn't step or sit on him. Ugh. It's such a nuisance that I'm too old to comfortably change into any shape I like. I can still do wolves and eagles just fine, but anything else just takes too much energy and effort now. I can only keep it up for five minutes, and where's the use in that?_

King Flóki very obligingly didn't linger for long. He'd been very taken with Rachel and her incredible voice, to the point where he'd invited her and her whole family to come to the Faroe Islands as part of his entourage, and she had gladly accepted, prattling on and on about how she was going to take Europe by storm, seeing as she planned on touring around Europe after the Hudson-Berry's visit to the Faroe Islands. Apparently, her agent had been nagging her about a worldwide concert tour now that her children were a bit older, and this seemed the perfect opportunity for her to kick off that series of concerts.

Burt would be sad to see them go. His stepson Finn had soon become a true son to him, and Rachel could be annoying but she'd grown on him as well. Not to mention that he'd miss his grandkids. Tom and Ben had just gotten to the age where anything the grown-ups did was fascinating, and there was nothing they liked better than following Burt around asking him endless questions or telling him rambling stories that never seem to have a point, or climbing onto his lap and contently falling asleep there. Well, that last bit wasn't new. The twins had been cuddle bugs from the very beginning, and Burt was really going to miss that.

After King Flóki and his sons and daughter had shaken hands with Burt and Kurt and the entire Manna-hata delegation, Finn and Burt hugged and parted with slaps on the back. Then it was Kurt's turn, and after their hug, Finn held out his fist for Kurt to bump. At this point, Kurt would usually roll his eyes at Finn and only fist-bump him after some coaxing. Now, though, Kurt returned the fist-bump readily, with a wistful half-grin, and then he turned to Rachel for a hug clearly neither of them wanted to end.

Rachel clung to Kurt and choked out between sniffles, "I'm going… to miss you… so much… Kurt!"

Kurt rubbed her back comfortingly, shedding some tears of his own. "Me too. You're my best friend. Who will I have to talk to when you're not here?"

"You can… call me," Rachel sobbed. "You will… won't you? I don't care… if you wake me up… In the middle of the night…"

"I care!" Finn objected, but Rachel shushed him.

"I'll call you," Kurt promised. "I will. Ugh, I hate that you're leaving. But you'll do so well in Europe. You'll never want to come back here, I'm sure. When you've scored a lead in a West End musical in London, you'll send me tickets for the opening night, won't you?"

Rachel laughed through her tears and promised she would.

"Okay, kiddo, say goodbye now," Burt told his son. "It's time for Rachel to go."

Instead of throwing Burt an incinerating glare, Kurt just hugged Rachel more fiercely still and then let go, his shoulders sagging and his expression morose.

 _Yeah, something's wrong with Kurt, that's for sure…_

Burt didn't have to wait long to find out what the matter was. As soon as the selkie delegation was gone, along with the Hudson-Berry's, Kurt plopped down on the chair next to Carole's and leaned his head against her shoulder. She ran a hand over his hair comfortingly, and instead of jumping up and shrieking at her not to touch his hair, Kurt just closed his eyes, and a tear trickled slowly down his cheek.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Carole asked softly.

Kurt let out a sigh that seemed to come all the way from his toes and sat up straight. "I met him. Last night. My soulmate."

"You did?" Carole sounded jubilant. "Sweetie, that's fantastic. I can't wait to meet him!"

Kurt gave her a weak smile.

"What's the matter?" Carole pressed on. "Doesn't he want to be with you? Why wouldn't he?"

Kurt's lower lip wobbled as he tried to keep his tears back. "I don't know. I've no idea if he wants to. We got along great, but… He's a human, Carole. A human. And you know the rules. HE has to find ME now. How is he going to manage that? He doesn't even know how to find Manna-hata Forest, let alone how to get into it. And even if he manages to find me, through sheer dumb luck, there's two more tasks he'll have to complete after that. I'm doomed."

Kurt balled his hand into fists. "This is so unfair. If I weren't the crown prince, I could just be with him and no-one would bat an eye. But no… My dad's the KING, so my happiness doesn't matter and my soulmate has to MEET THE CRITERIA. Ugh."

Burt raised an eyebrow at Kurt.

"Oh, Dad, you know I'm glad to be your son," Kurt sighed. "You're an amazing dad. But this… This sucks. So much."

Burt nodded in acknowledgement. "It wasn't easy for your mother either, but at least Lizzie knew from the get-go what would be expected of her. Your guy will have no idea."

"I know," Kurt groaned. "All he has is my ring, and he doesn't even know it has special powers, let alone how to activate them."

"Well, if you met him at a music festival, he must be into music, right?" Burt said. "So maybe he likes to sing. And when he sings and the ring lights up, he's bound to notice at some point, isn't he?"

Kurt sighed again. "I hope so. If you don't need me today, I'd like to go visit Mom's tree."

"That's fine," Burt said.

Kurt got up slowly, and made his way out of the reception room.

"Kurt," Burt called him, and Kurt turned his head around.

"For what it's worth, bud, I hope he finds you again. What's his name, anyway?"

Kurt's face lit up for a moment. "Blaine. His name is Blaine."

K&B

Kurt carefully weaved through the bushes until he arrived in what used to be his mother's forest glade. There, amongst a dozen beautiful silvery beeches, was a tree felled by lightning. Half of it was still standing, its silver hue only slightly marred. The other half, though, had fallen to the ground, blackened and charred.

Kurt approached the tree and threw his arms around the standing half, flattening his nose against the bark.

"Mom," Kurt sobbed. "I wish you were here. I found him, Mom. My soulmate. And I'm so scared. Scared I'm going to lose him."

A hand ran over his hair, light as a feather. "Kurtiebug…"

"Auntie Abbie," Kurt choked out, and he let go of his mother's tree to hug his aunt instead.

"Good to see you, sweetheart," Abbie cooed. "And you've found your soulmate, you say?"

Kurt sniffled and nodded.

"So now you're freaking out because of the three tasks?" Abbie asked.

Kurt nodded again.

"He'll do fine, sweetie," Abbie reassured him. "He's got the ring."

Kurt hid his face behind his hands and shook his head violently.

Abbie quirked an eyebrow. "You… didn't give him the ring?"

"Of course I did. But he won't know what to do with it. He's HUMAN, Aunt Abbie. Human!"

Abbie let out a high, tinkling laugh. "That won't matter, sweetie. He's your soulmate. He's bound to you. He's sure to be extraordinary. Give him some credit, Kurtiebug."

Kurt lifted up his head, a tendril of hope unfurling inside his heart. "You think he'll make it?"

"I'm sure he will," Abbie said. "Lizzie always said wearing the ring felt like having Burt with her, in a way. It gave her strength, and courage, and good ideas to solve the tasks."

"But she knew the ring was magical," Kurt argued. "Blaine doesn't know squat. Maybe he'll just throw it in the garbage."

"Blaine, is it? I like that name…"

Kurt gave Abbie a forlorn little smile.

"Aww, don't be so glum," Abbie said, patting Kurt's hand. "As long as you can still feel him in your heart and picture him in your head, he's not lost to you. Have faith."

"And be patient, yes," Kurt huffed. "I've been hearing that ever since I came of age. I'm so sick and tired of waiting."

Abbie pulled Kurt into a hug. "I know, sweetie. I know. It's been at least a hundred years."

"A hundred and thirteen years," Kurt corrected her, toying with his brooch. "Seventeen weeks, four days and twenty-two hours. But who's counting really?"

Abbie giggled. "You still don't look a day over nineteen to me. How old is Blaine?"

"He's twenty-five," Kurt said, fiddling absently with the finger that used to hold his ring.

"Tell me all about him," Abbie pressed on. "And how you met. You know you want to."

Kurt grinned at his aunt and lay down on the grass, patting the spot next to him until Abbie followed suit. "All right then… Blaine and I met last night when we literally bumped into each other…"


	5. Chapter 5: Blackbird Singing in the Dead

**Author's Note:**

 **This chapter is probably the longest of them all, and follows Blaine as he continues his search for Kurt. I loved writing the kiddie Kurt flashback :-) We'll be having more of those later on.**

Chapter 5: Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night

 _"_ _And they all lived happily ever after," Elizabeth concluded her story._

 _Kurt sighed in satisfaction and wriggled around on her lap to hug her._

 _"_ _Bedtime, now, Kurtiebug," Elizabeth announced, but Kurt just wriggled closer still, his arms tightening around her and his nose flattened against her chest._

 _"_ _It's late, sweetie, come on," Elizabeth insisted. "You need a good night's sleep, 'cause we're travelling tomorrow."_

 _Kurt's answer was muffled by the fabric of Elizabeth's dress._

 _Elizabeth laughed. "I didn't catch that, my little koala. I can't understand a word you say while you're smushing your face against me."_

 _Kurt raised his head and looked at his mom beseechingly. "Sing me the song first, please. Please, Mom?"_

 _Elizabeth kissed his cute little button nose. "All right, then."_

 _Kurt's big blue eyes seemed to widen even further, his mouth forming a perfect "O", when his mother started singing. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night…"_

Blaine smiled in his sleep, enraptured by the touching scene he saw in his head. He turned on his other side, and the dream stopped abruptly, but he slept on unawares.

The next time Blaine turned around, though, he sank head-first into another dream, this one featuring teenager Kurt, his arms around a tree, singing the very same song.

 _"_ _Take these broken wings and learn to fly…"_

 _Kurt's voice sounded hoarse, and he barely managed to finish the song before he burst into tears and sank to the ground, without letting go of the tree._

 _"_ _Kurt, bud," Burt spoke up hesitantly. "Let's… Let's go home now. Okay?"_

 _"_ _Mom," Kurt sobbed._

 _She's… She's not here, buddy. Not anymore. She's gone."_

 _Kurt turned to Burt, his eyes blazing. "I know!"_

 _Then Kurt deflated, his face showing nothing but mute misery. "I just want to… I need to… Say goodbye."_

 _Burt sighed and took his cap off to run a hand over his head. "You just did. Come on, son, it's freezing. Can't let you catch your death of cold here, you're all I've left now."_

 _Kurt's eyes softened, and he got up and threw his arms around Burt in a tight hug._

At that point, Blaine's phone alarm went off, and he blinked awake, startled and not entirely sure where he was for a moment. And where was Kurt? He'd been there just now. Where had he disappeared to?

The remnants of his dream melted away like the last tendrils of a morning fog, and Blaine realised he was in bed. Alone.

 _I've never had dreams this realistic before. Usually, my dreams don't make sense at all._

Blaine yawned and got up. The ring on his finger caught the sunlight and sparkled merrily.

 _Did I dream about Kurt because I was wearing his ring? Because that somehow brings me closer to him? Let's try that again tonight…_

Blaine checked the time on his phone and yelped. Okay, no more time for daydreaming, he had to get ready and get to work.

K & B

Thirty minutes later, Blaine walked into the hospital and headed straight to the reception desk of the oncology ward.

"Good morning, Blaine," Janelle sing-songed. Her hair, which changed from day to day according to her mood, was now in bouncy bantu knot curls, framing her face beautifully.

"Morning, Janelle," Blaine smiled. "What's my assignment for today?"

"Well, there's an eight-year-old girl that needs to be entertained for an hour or two until they come and fetch her for her operation, and after that, there's a Mr Jones, who requested someone to read the newspaper to him, seeing as he gets fierce headaches any time he tries to read."

"Okay," Blaine said, accepting the print-out detailing his volunteer duties for that day and scanning it.

 _Oh, it's Hailey again? I was hoping she'd stay in the clear… I think I'm going to tell her fairy tales. She likes those._

"Okay, I'm off to see Hailey," Blaine announced, giving Janelle a parting wave. "I like your ear-rings, by the way."

"Pretty, aren't they?" Janelle grinned. The grin made her nose crinkle in pretty much the same way Kurt's did, and her face was peppered with freckles, just like Kurt's, though hers were a lot more visible, even on her lips.

Blaine sighed and made to turn around to head to Hailey's room.

"Aww, do you have a crush on me, gorgeous?" Janelle asked with a giggle. "That was quite a sigh. You know, I could put you out of your misery if you asked me nicely to go out with you."

Blaine threw his head back and laughed. "Sorry, Janelle. Gold star gay here. Just like I told your friend Charity at your New Year's Eve party. You're beautiful, and I like you lots and lots, but no… I'm not crushing on you. Sorry to burst your bubble."

Janelle heaved a sigh of her own, pouting her plush lips. "Well, a girl can dream."

Blaine chuckled. "Never going to happen. Derek, though… Now HE wouldn't turn you down, I'm sure."

Janelle rolled her eyes. "Been there, done that, and I don't want a repeat. He's such momma's boy, ugh. First date we ever went on, his mom called halfway through dinner and kept him on the line for half an hour jabbering about his aunt who'd broken her leg. Seriously! Second date, we made it to his place, and were just getting cosy, you know, and BAM! She calls again, and actually asks him to come over to fix something or other. So he told me he had to go to his mom's real quick, and to wait 'till he came back. But I said, 'Like I'm going to wait around for you" and I walked out. No way am I gonna come second to his mom all the time."

Blaine hummed in understanding. "Well, I'm off. See you later, Janelle!"

K & B

"Blaine!" Hailey shouted happily when she saw him come in.

"Hey, princess," Blaine beamed. "Ready to head to fairy tale land?"

"Yes! Can you tell me the tale of the three feathers again?"

So Blaine told her the story, and she listened spellbound, and requested some other favourites of hers after that.

When the sun broke through the clouds and lit up the room, however, she noticed the ring on Blaine's finger. "Oh, Blaine! Where did you get that ring? It's so pretty!"

Blaine smiled at her. "A boy gave it to me."

"Because you're getting married?" Hailey wanted to know.

"Uhm… No. I don't know why."

"Well, can't you ask him?" Hailey pressed on.

"Uhm… No. I don't have his phone number."

"So go to his house," Hailey suggested.

Blaine bit his lip. "I don't know where he lives. I've only seen him that one time."

"Where?" Hailey asked.

"In Central Park. There was a concert."

"So go back to Central Park," Hailey said. "Maybe he often goes there, and you'll find him again."

Blaine fiddled with the ring. "You think?"

Well, it was worth a try, at the very least.

"It's very much like a fairy tale, isn't it?" Hailey mused. "Him giving you the ring. Like a riddle you have to solve. Or maybe there's a trap door, right there where you met."

Blaine laughed. "Maybe."

K & B

After Hailey had been taken away to the operating theatre, Blaine went to Mr Jones' room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Blaine went in and closed the door softly, remembering Janelle's remark about the headaches this patient tended to get.

"Good morning," Blaine said cheerfully.

"Morning? It's almost noon!" Mr Jones griped. "When they told me they'd sent someone around to read me the newspaper, I thought they would come just after breakfast."

"Well, I'm here now," Blaine replied. "So what section of the newspaper should I focus on first?"

"Sports. Start with football, please."

When Blaine had read out the entire sports section, he switched to the economics section and read the whole of that too. Mr Jones told him to skip the politics and go straight to the TV pages next. "And the gossip about celebrities, I want to hear that too."

Blaine chuckled and obliged.

At last, Blaine had gone through the whole newspaper, and he folded it up neatly and handed it back to Mr Jones, who reached out to take it, and then froze and grabbed Blaine's wrist instead, standing up and towering over Blaine.

"Where did you get that ring, you punk?" Mr Jones hissed. "Stole it, did you?"

Mr Jones' grip was so hard that Blaine grimaced. "No, sir. I didn't. It was given to me."

"A likely story," Mr Jones growled. "This is a Lenape heirloom. It's centuries old. There's a twin of this ring in my uncle's Museum of Indian Culture, in Allentown, only that one has a red stone instead of a blue one. This ring belongs in the museum too, not with some over-privileged white brat without a drop of Native American blood in his veins. Give it to me!"

"No," Blaine said calmly but firmly. "It was given to me by someone I hold dear, and I'm keeping it. And for the record, I'm not white. My mother's a Filipina."

Mr Jones growled at him and tried to tug off the ring, but it wouldn't budge.

"Sir, please stop!"

Mr Jones didn't listen to Blaine and doubled his efforts to get the ring off, only stopping and jumping away with a pained cry when the metal suddenly glowed and felt scorching hot around Blaine's finger.

Blaine, sure that Mr Jones would blame him for having burnt his hands, took up a fighting stance, but the old man didn't touch him again.

"I guess the stories are true, then?" Mr Jones drawled, giving Blaine a piercing look. "You're the soulmate of the Manna-hata heir, and the ring will lead you to him and keep you from harm?"

Blaine blinked in surprise. "Soulmate? Heir?"

"I guess you're gay?" Mr Jones asked.

Blaine gulped but nodded.

"And you got this ring from a guy you spent the night with?"

Blaine felt the hair on his arms prickle uncomfortably, but nodded again.

"Let me guess, he bolted without so much as leaving you his number?"

"He did," Blaine whispered. "But the ring was on the nightstand."

Mr Jones harrumphed. "Figures. And now you don't have a clue what to do to find him again?"

"None," Blaine confessed.

Mr Jones let out a dry chuckle. "Well then, thank your lucky stars you were sent to read me the newspaper today. I loved the Manna-hata stories as a kid, so I know what's what. Here's what you gotta do, boy. The Manna-hata Forest is hidden somewhere in Central Park. The stories tell us there's a hollow tree you've got to find. That's the entryway. And then you'll have to pay a tribute to get in. The ring won't help you there, though it will ward off evil creatures."

Blaine gaped at Mr Jones, who full-out laughed this time.

"You probably think I'm crazy for believing those stories, don't you? Well, kid, you'll see soon enough. Once you're in, the ring will guide you to your soulmate, and you'll be given two more tasks to complete."

"Two… Two more?" Blaine gasped, feeling as if he'd tumbled into some strange alternate reality.

There was a knock on the door, and an orderly came in with Mr Jones' lunch.

Mr Jones took his knife and fork and started to eat.

"Si-sir?" Blaine faltered.

Mr Jones looked up briefly to say "Courage!", and then continued eating.

Blaine got the hint and silently let himself out.

 _I guess I'm going to Central Park this afternoon…_

K&B

Blaine ran a hand through his curls and sighed in defeat, sagging against the trunk of a huge tree. Why was Central Park so huge? And where was Blaine to find that one hollow tree that was supposed to lead to - what exactly? An alternate dimension?

 _Time for a break…_

Blaine sat down under the tree, thankful for the shadow it provided, and took a bottle of water and an apple out of his backpack.

"Discovered the black tupelo, have you?"

Blaine looked up to find a tall white-haired man smiling at him. He had a pair of binoculars around his neck, a professional-looking camera on a strap around his shoulder and a notebook and a pencil in his hands.

"It dates from 1862, so it's one of the oldest trees around here. Dates from the period in which the park was designed."

"Oh," said Blaine. "I didn't know that."

The man laughed. "My bad. I thought you were a tree enthusiast, like me. You seemed to be looking at them very closely."

Blaine fiddled with his hands nervously, knowing that what he was about to say would seem mental. "I'm actually looking for a tree. A hollow one."

The man quirked an eyebrow. "What kind? There are plenty of hollow trees, especially here in the Ramble."

Blaine bit his lip. "I don't know, sir."

"Any particular reason why you're looking for that tree?" the man pressed on.

"It's supposed to lead to the Mana-hata Forest," Blaine replied truthfully.

The man tilted his head to the side and mused, "Now where have I heard that before? I think it was Ken who told me about it. But that's a legend, right? A Native American legend? There aren't any trees here that date THAT far back. The oldest are from the nineteenth century."

Blaine nodded, his shoulders sagging in defeat.

"But, hey, if you want to find some hollow trees anyway, I'll help you find them, if you don't mind helping me along the way. Ken and I have made a map of the trees here in Central Park, and this section needs an update, so I'm jotting down the particulars and taking pictures. My name's Barnard, by the way, Ned Barnard. You can call me Ned."

Ned stuck out his hand and Blaine shook it. "I'm Blaine, sir, Blaine Anderson."

"Nice to meet you, Blaine. Too bad Ken's not with me today. He knows far more about Native American legends and history than I do. But I'll find you your hollow trees, don't you worry."

Blaine followed Ned while he walked through the Ramble, stopping often to inspect leaves and tree saplings and to test the sturdiness of the branches of certain trees. Ned explained to Blaine what he was doing, and had Blaine hold his camera and notebook while he crawled under a bush or climbed into a tree.

They came across several hollow trees, and Blaine looked them over carefully, studying their trunks to see if there were any symbols carved into them, but they all looked depressingly normal. Still, he took a picture of each one with his phone and noted where in the Ramble it could be found, and when Ned had finished his tour of the Ramble, Blaine thanked him and slowly walked out of Central Park, stopping at a hot dog cart for a chili dog and sitting down on a bench to eat it.

He washed down the chili dog with the water he'd brought from home, and stayed on the bench for another while, content to rest his feet and people-watch. The afternoon heat was gone by now, and a warm breeze was blowing.

Blaine stretched out his legs, tilted his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the wind on his face. He found himself humming the Beatles song from his dreams, and he smiled, thinking of Kurt as a child, and started to sing softly.

 _"_ _Blackbird singing in the dead of night…"_

Blaine was about halfway the song when he noticed it. The ring felt hot again.

Blaine snapped his eyes open and saw that the ring was glowing as well, and when he brought his hand closer to his face, he could hear a slight humming sound coming from it.

Blaine gingerly touched the ring, and in a flash, a vision of Kurt appeared. Kurt looked miserable and tense, and Blaine felt a yearning to hug him and make him feel better.

 _Please. Please, help me find him!_

The ring's humming grew a little louder. A wave of calm and certainty went through Blaine, who suddenly felt compelled to get up and return to the Ramble, his mind filled with a sense of direction that hadn't been there before.

Blaine smiled and strode confidently over the grass and through the bushes, crooning "Blue Eyes" and feeling more hopeful than he had all day.

He stopped before a hollow cherry tree. It looked just as unremarkable as it had before, and Blaine fell silent, circling the tree and contemplating.

Then he remembered the ring, which had been so helpful in getting this far. Could he ask it for help again? Blaine's heart sank when he noticed the ring had lost its glow.

 _How do I get it to work again? What was I doing when it started glowing? Thinking of Kurt, yes. Oh, and I was singing. Would that work? Let's see, what would I sing for Kurt if he were here?_

Blaine thought hard, and then settled on "Somewhere Only We Know". By the time he'd sung the line about the branches of the tree looking at him, the ring was glowing and humming happily again.

 _There you are! Now could you PLEASE tell me how to activate this entryway? Is there a button I need to push somewhere? A handle I need to find?_

Again, confident serenity washed over Blaine, and he didn't hesitate, but stepped closer to the tree and wrapped his arms around its trunk, as far as he could reach.

The trunk warmed up under his touch, and it felt to Blaine as though the tree was hugging him back, enveloping him. All of him. And then, somehow, Blaine was standing inside of the tree, which had expanded into a small round room. Blaine squinted in the half-light as he looked around. There were no doors, no windows, but there was no roof, either, and the evening breeze still ruffled through Blaine's hair companionably.

 _Okay. So what do I do now?_

"Ahem."

Blaine whirled around in alarm, and then did a double-take at what he saw: a creature that was half woman, half bird.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snapped. "Seriously, boy, close your mouth before a pixie flies in. Hasn't your mother ever told you it's rude to stare?"

"S-s-sorry," Blaine stuttered. "I've just… I've never…"

"Never seen a harpy before? Yes, that much is obvious. Now, out with it, tiny Sal Mineo, what are you doing here? I don't have all day."

Blaine collected his thoughts as best he could, and answered, "I'm looking for Kurt."

The harpy's eyes narrowed. "That's Prince Kurt to you, you insolent little pup. And what do you want with our prince?"

Blaine swallowed with difficulty. "Apparently, he's my soulmate."

One of the harpy's claws shot out and grabbed his wrist, none too gently.

"Ouch!" Blaine protested.

"Oh, stop whining, cry-baby! I just need to see… You have the ring! Seriously? Prince Kurt is bound to a human? I hope there's more to you than what you've shown me so far."

The harpy frowned and added in an undertone, clearly talking to herself, "Porcelain deserves better, after all he's been through."

Blaine set his jaw and straightened his spine. "I'm his soulmate. I'll be everything he needs me to be, I assure you."

"Oh, would you look at that, our young Burt Reynolds has spunk after all," the harpy smirked.

Blaine didn't react to her obvious taunting, but asked politely, "Could you please tell me what to do to gain entrance to the Manna-hata Forest?"

"Ooooh! So polite! Prep school boy, are you?" the harpy crowed. "What do you have to do to get in? Easy. Play a game of Truth and Dare with me. If you choose Truth, I want to hear a secret from you no-one else knows. Choose Dare, and I get to order you to do something. I warn you: I want it done to my exacting standards. If you're sloppy, it doesn't count, and I'll be expecting that secret of yours anyway, or else you won't get in."

Blaine nodded. "Dare, please."

The harpy grinned and produced an iPad to show Blaine a video of a cheerleading routine. And there, right in front and centre, was a young Kurt, flipping cartwheels and doing backflips and splits as if it was all as easy as breathing. Blaine, his eyes glued to the screen, let out a deep sigh when the video ended. Wow. Kurt was truly mesmerising.

A loud cackle behind him alerted Blaine to the presence of the harpy, whom he had forgotten all about for a moment. "I trained Porcelain well, didn't I? And now it's your turn!"

Blaine stared at her wide-eyed.

"Stop making Bambi eyes at me and get on with it! I want to see the same routine Porcelain did in the video, flawlessly delivered. Chop, chop!"

Blaine took a moment to run through the routine in his mind, thanking his lucky stars that his mother had enrolled him in an acrobatic gymnastics class once he'd started doing cartwheels in the garden at four years old.

 _Come on, Anderson! It's been quite some time, but you're good at this!_

Blaine ran through the routine without so much as breaking a sweat, and ended with a deep bow and a smile so luminous it could have been seen from space.

The harpy, though, seemed less than impressed. "Your half twist is sloppy, and you forgot a front hand-spring about halfway through and a somersault at the end. Better come up with a good secret to tell me if you want to get in."

Blaine stared at her, aghast. "But that's completely unfair! I did the routine as well as I could remember it after seeing it only once, and remembering all that is hard!"

The harpy snorted. "Hard? Try passing a gallstone, that's hard! Tell me your secret, non-flammable gay. I'm waiting."

Blaine blinked at her - _What's with all those nicknames?_ \- and thought hard, then blurted out, "I actually hated my violin lessons but stuck with them because playing the violin was the only thing that I could do that my big brother couldn't."

The harpy rolled her eyes. "Lame. But you told the truth, so I guess I'll have to let you in after all."

A split second later, part of the wall opened, and a man peered in curiously. "Did you call for me, Sue?"

The man came inside, and Blaine's eyes widened when he saw furry legs and hooves. Another creature straight from a story book. The Narnia Chronicles, his mind helpfully supplied, Mr Tumnus the faun, half man and half goat.

"No, William," Sue drawled. "I'd much rather have Becky than you, Weepy the vest clown. But I guess you'll have to do. Escort Porcelain's other half to the castle, please."

"Porcelain's…" William's face lit up. "Kurt's soulmate? At last? Oh, I'm so glad!"

"Yes, yes, it's about time, but spare me your raptures and get out of here!" Sue grumbled.

William beckoned Blaine, who hurried after him.

"So what's your name?" William asked as they turned left and found themselves in a wide lane flanked by maple trees, their canopies so interwoven that it looked as though they formed an arch over the lane.

"Blaine, sir," Blaine answered. "Blaine Anderson."

"Nice to meet you, Blaine. My name's Will Schuester, though my students shorten that to 'Mr Schue'."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Blaine said.

At the end of the lane, there was a smooth lawn with a pond in the middle and a neat driveway on either side of the pond. Behind the lawn was the castle. Blaine, who had been expecting some sort of big mansion, was surprised to find a big block of grey stone, with sturdy rectangular towers. Very no-nonsense, and not in the least fairy-tale-like.

Will led him inside briskly, only stopping when they reached a vast room with a big throne in carved-out wood. No-one was sitting in it for the moment, but there were two people in the room, who were talking in low, urgent whispers.

"Burt, Carole? Can I interrupt for a second?"

Carole squeezed Burt's hand, who sighed, took off his cap and ran a hand over his head, and then turned to Will. "Hey, Will. What's up?"

Will grinned at Burt, then straightened up and intoned very solemnly, "Your majesty, I've brought you Blaine Anderson, who claims to be the crown prince's soulmate."

 _This is the king? And Kurt's dad?_

Burt's eyes found Blaine's, and though his gaze was stern, it wasn't unkind.

"Blaine Anderson," Burt stated.

"Yes, your majesty," Blaine replied.

"Are you ready to prove your claim?" Burt continued.

Blaine gulped. "Yes, sire."

"Then come with me."

Burt whispered to Carole, "You know what to do!"

She nodded and hurried away. Burt followed after her, much more slowly, and after a moment's hesitation, Blaine fell in step with Burt.

The king led Blaine to another big room, which, to Blaine's surprise, was completely filled with cats. All of them looked exactly the same: grey, sleek and slightly bored.

Burt spoke again. "Blaine Anderson, to prove your claim, I hereby command you to recognise and identify Prince Kurt in this room."

Blaine, completely baffled, blurted out, "But all I can see here are cats!"

Burt chuckled. "Kurt's a shape-shifter. That means he can take on any shape he likes. And right now, he's a cat. One of the cats in this room. And he's not allowed to help you find him. You'll have do that all by yourself, and you have half an hour. Starting now. Good luck!"


	6. Chapter 6: This Is Kurt

**Author's Note:**

 **This chapter contains more information about the tradition, and why it's important that Kurt and Blaine follow the rules. Also: the second task, yay!**

Chapter 6: This Is Kurt

Burt looked across the dinner table at his son, who was arranging and rearranging the food on his plate without ever tasting it, looking subdued.

"Kurt, sweetie, you need to eat!" Carole urged him, and Kurt briefly looked up and smiled at her, spearing a piece of chicken on his fork and popping it into his mouth.

"It's only been a day," Burt said. "You can't expect Blaine to find you this fast. Give him time."

Kurt sighed. "I know, and I'll wait forever if I have to. It's just… It's hard. I don't even dream about him anymore, like I used to, and I really miss those dreams. They made him feel so real, and they made me feel so connected to him."

Burt chuckled. "Well, of course you're not dreaming about him anymore. You gave him the ring, so he'll be having those dreams now."

Kurt gaped at his father. "That's how it works? The ring gave me those dreams?"

"Yep."

"Did you have them too?"

"Yep. And then I gave the ring to Lizzie, and I stopped dreaming about her. Bugged me too, kiddo. But I reckoned Lizzie needed the ring and the dreams more, to keep her from giving up on me."

Kurt nodded. "Good point."

"And I kind of stalked her on bad days."

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"What? The rule was that we couldn't be together before the three tasks were complete, but over my dead body was I going to wait that long to see her again. I just made sure she didn't see me."

Kurt giggled. "She did, you know. Mom told me she could feel it when you were near, and then she would make it a game to find out where you were hiding before you disappeared again. She even fed you sunflower seeds when you were in your robin form. Wasn't that against the rules? That's interacting, surely?"

Burt grinned. "Hey, she didn't let on she recognised me, and I didn't, either. We didn't talk to each other at all. So, no rules broken."

"Sneaky…" Kurt mused, a soft smile playing on his lips, and his mind clearly picturing himself doing the same.

"Hey, it worked for us. Maybe it will work for you too."

Kurt hummed absently, going back to toying with his food.

Carole shot Burt a worried look.

"Later," Burt mouthed.

K&B

After the dishes had been done, Kurt excused himself to his room, and Burt took Carole's hand and led her to the reception room to chat without being overheard by Kurt.

"He's barely eaten anything today!" Carole told Burt. "I really worry that he's going to develop an eating disorder if his soulmate doesn't show up soon. He takes this so much to heart."

"I know," Burt sighed, rubbing his thumb over her hand soothingly. "I'm not looking forward to the separation task, I can tell you. Wish I could just tell the boys to skip all that nonsense and get married already, but I can't. Our future depends on it. You know that better than most, you're from the Lower Hudson Valley. You know what happened to the Lenape there, 'cause it happened to you too. Your crown prince didn't stick with tradition and started dating his soulmate without a peep about the three tasks. And now the lot of you have lost your shape-shifting powers, and all you have left are memories and stories, and your heirloom ring is in a museum."

Carole nodded, sadness and regret in her eyes. "I know why it's important. It just breaks my heart to see Kurt like this."

Burt surreptitiously wiped away a tear and cleared his throat. "Well, let's hope this Blaine finds us soon. I'll give it a week, and if he hasn't shown up by next Sunday, I'll ask Kurt for Blaine's address and pay him a visit. There's nothing in the rules that forbids me to give the guy a few pointers."

Carole smiled at Burt. "True."

"And if he does show up, you fetch Kurt and bring him to the ballroom, where the Cheerios are practicing every afternoon, and you tell Kurt and the Cheerios to turn into cats. You know the drill. They have to be identical, all of them. Let Kurt transform first and all the Cheerios copy him. And they're all to behave the same. No throwing the game."

"Okay. I really hope Blaine turns up."

"Me too."

A cheery voice interrupted them at this point. It was Will, and behind him was a twenty-something guy Burt had never seen before, looking around him in wide-eyed fascination.

Could this be? Surely not… But then Will straightened up and announced the young man as Kurt's soulmate, and Burt slipped into his official role and sent Carole to get the ballroom ready for the second task.

Burt took the long way to the ballroom so as to give Carole the time to fetch Kurt and arrange for him and the Cheerios to turn into cats. When a quarter of an hour had passed, he led Blaine into the room and told him to recognise and identify Kurt.

Blaine's face was priceless, and Burt had a hard time biting back his laughter when Blaine told Burt he saw nothing but cats.

Burt allowed himself a chuckle and explained about the shape-shifting. Blaine stared at him for a second, his mouth wide open, but then he collected himself.

 _Good. Good! He's not letting this stump him. A fighter, this one. I like him already._

K&B

Kurt wrapped his tail tightly around himself, and saw the Cheerios closest to him do the same. His heart was beating so loudly and so fast that surely, Blaine could go by that alone to find him, but of course, Blaine only had a human sense of hearing.

Kurt saw his father smile and nod approvingly, and wished he could see Blaine, but his soulmate was at the other end of the room, and Kurt was not allowed to walk up to him and draw attention to himself. What was Blaine doing?

And then Kurt heard it. A beautiful melody was stealing through the room, and if Blaine's game plan was to lure Kurt to him with the power of his voice, he might just succeed, because Kurt's tail had unfurled without Kurt thinking twice about it, and he caught himself purring.

 _Okay, I'll need to stop that…_

Kurt was so focussed on keeping still and unobtrusive that he didn't notice Blaine coming closer until his soulmate was petting the Cheerio right next to him.

 _Really, that's your strategy? Petting every cat in this room?_

But then it was Kurt's turn to be petted, and he quickly discovered the brilliancy of Blaine's plan. Blaine didn't stroke Kurt from head to tail, didn't trace his spine or rub his chin. Instead, he went straight to that spot behind Kurt's left ear that was insanely sensitive and caressed Kurt there. That felt so bone-meltingly good that Kurt couldn't help but purr, embarrassingly loudly, and throw his head to the right to encourage Blaine to pet him some more.

 _Right there. Oh, yes, please._

Kurt, his steady purr still rumbling through his body, closed his eyes in rapture, enjoying Blaine's gentle touch, and meowed in protest when Blaine stopped petting him. When the caresses didn't resume, Kurt blinked his eyes open and glared at his soulmate.

Blaine chuckled and picked Kurt up, cradling him in his arms, and turned to Burt. "This is Kurt. I'm sure of it."

Happiness thrummed through Kurt, who quickly resumed his human shape and threw his arms around Blaine.

"I love you," Kurt whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm so sorry about all this."

Blaine rubbed his nose against Kurt's in a sweet bunny kiss. "I love you too. And don't worry about it. I found you, that's the main thing. And the shape-shifting is awesome. I'm so jealous."

Kurt giggled. "Dork!"

Blaine pecked Kurt on the mouth. "Your dork."

"Always," Kurt promised.

Burt cleared his throat, and Kurt shot him a panicked look. _Not yet!_

Burt shrugged apologetically, and then said, "Blaine Anderson, you have correctly identified your soulmate. That concludes the second task."

"Please don't give up on me," Kurt implored Blaine in an undertone, clutching him frantically.

Blaine smiled at Kurt. "I would never."

Kurt surged in for a kiss, luxuriating in the feel of having Blaine so near and letting the smell and the taste of Blaine invade his senses. _Any second now_ …

And yes, Burt continued, "The third task starts now."

There was no thunderclap or dramatic light flash, but as soon as Burt said the word "now", Blaine vanished into thin air, and Kurt felt as though his heart had been ripped out of his chest.

Kurt's legs were suddenly too rubbery to hold him up, and he sank to the floor, for once not thinking about what that would do to his trousers.

"Kurt!" Carole exclaimed, her voice panicked. "Somebody bring Kurt a glass of water!"

Burt helped Kurt up. "Sorry, bud."

Kurt forced himself to smile. "You had to. I know."

"Think about it this way: the sooner the task starts, the sooner it will be out of the way."

Kurt scoffed. "Five years from now. In human years, that's AGES. People get married and divorced in way less time than that."

"Blaine seems like a good kid," Burt said. "I think he'll stick it out."

Kurt remembered the vision he'd had earlier, about Blaine going on a first date with another guy, and felt sick to his stomach.

"Here's your water, your highness."

Kurt looked up and accepted the glass from Madison with a murmured "Thanks".

Burt put his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "You're excused from your princely duties until you have your soulmate back."

Kurt turned his head so fast he cricked his neck. "What?"

"You heard me, kiddo," Burt said. "I know how hard this is, and I'm not going to make it any harder on you. If you want to be close to Blaine, go and live in New York City for five years. But you know the rules: no talking and no touching. So make sure he doesn't catch you unawares in your human form and doesn't pet you when you transform into an animal."

Kurt nodded, overwhelmed.

"And I'll be keeping an eye on Blaine for you too," Carole promised. "I recognised him as soon as he showed up here. He volunteers in the hospital where I work, on Wednesday afternoons and Sundays mornings."

"He does?"

Come to think of it, Blaine had mentioned volunteering in an oncology ward, Kurt recalled. What a coincidence that Carole worked in the same hospital! Or… Was it fate?

"He does," Carole smiled. "I don't see much of him, seeing as I work in the paediatrics ward, but sometimes he joins Janelle and Lucy and me for lunch on Sundays. Oh, and speaking of Janelle, she told me last week that her roommate is moving out and she's looking for a new one. Want me to put in a good word for you?"

Kurt sighed. "Why don't I focus on finding a job first? Or two? Living in NYC isn't cheap…"

"What was the name of that singing waiter diner Rachel worked at?" Burt asked. "She got really good tips there."

"The Spotlight Diner," Kurt supplied. "And of course she got good tips. She's part siren."

"Lots of talent scouts go there," Burt continued. "Remember when Rachel got offered the part of Fanny Brice?"

"I remember, yes. Okay, I'll look into it."

Carole gave Kurt a warm hug. "It's going to be fine, sweetie. Those five years will be over before you know it."

Kurt mustered up a tiny smile for her.

 _I hope you're right…_


	7. Chapter 7: I'm Never Giving Up On You

**Author's Note:**

 **This is another meaty chapter, and probably my favourite out of the whole bunch :-)**

Chapter 7: I'm Never Giving Up On You

Blaine gaped at Burt, frantically processing the information in his head. As he had when Mr Jones had explained about the entrance to the Manna-hata Forest, and then again when he'd gotten into the tree and met a harpy and a faun, Blaine had to take a moment to adjust to this new reality. It didn't take him long. After all, he was well-versed in comic book and science fiction literature, and he was very open-minded and easy-going.

 _Kurt is a shape-shifter? He can turn into a cat? That's so cool!_

And then Blaine turned his mind to the task he had to fulfil.

 _I have to single out Kurt from a kindle of cats? How can I do that when they all look exactly the same? I wonder if the ring will help me out this time too. It's worth the try…_

So Blaine, not caring what the people looking would think if he just burst into song, sang to the ring to get it working again, and then pressed his index finger against it.

 _Please tell me what to do._

The ring obliged, showing him a flashback of Kurt when Blaine was licking that pleasure spot behind Kurt's left ear, his expression blissed out and his head turned to the right.

 _Of course!_

Blaine grinned and stepped towards the cat nearest him, crouching down and letting it smell his fingers before gently scratching it behind his left ear. The cat didn't object to the petting, but didn't encourage it, either, walking away with soft meow as soon as Blaine took his hand away.

The next cat hissed when Blaine dangled his fingers before its face, and Blaine immediately stepped away with a soft "Sorry, kitty…", which for some reason made Burt crack up.

Apart from one other vicious feline, who scratched his hand as soon as it came too near, most cats let themselves be petted readily enough, some of them even crowding in on him, circling his legs and bumping his shins and his arms to ask for their turn.

But it wasn't until Blaine reached the back of the room that he felt Kurt nearby. Any doubt Blaine might have felt about being able to recognise Kurt flew out of the window then.

 _I'll know it's him. It will just… Feel right._

As if in answer, the ring on Blaine's finger grew slightly warmer and let out a soft hum.

Fortified by this confirmation, Blaine held out his hand to the next cat, but its reaction was lacklustre, and Blaine turned to another. This one seemed frightened, its posture stiff, so Blaine made sure to be extra careful in approaching it. The cat warmed to Blaine as soon as his fingers touched it, though, pushing its head even closer against Blaine's hand and showing its contentment with a purr that quickly grew in intensity. And then the cat turned its head to the right in a clear invitation for Blaine to keep caressing that spot behind its ear, and Blaine's breath hitched when he was hit with a strong sense of déjà vu.

 _Does this mean… Could this be Kurt?_

Blaine absent-mindedly kept on scratching softly behind the cat's ear, his mind whirling. The cat closed its eyes, and the similarity to the vision he'd just had of Kurt lying on the sofa, eyes shut in ecstasy as Blaine worked over his sweet spot, struck Blaine so forcefully that he stopped the petting.

That led to a loud and indignant meow. Blaine, a smile playing on his lips, stepped back and waited for the cat's next move. It opened its eyes and sent Blaine a forceful glare, which, once again, was more than familiar. Blaine remembered Kurt slaying him with a similar death stare when Lady Gaga came up in their conversation after the concert, and Blaine offhandedly remarked she was overhyped.

Blaine chuckled at the recollection, picked up the cat and hugged him close, and then turned to the king with a triumphant grin and announced that he'd found his soulmate.

The very next moment, he was nearly knocked over by the force of Kurt's embrace. Kurt was now human again, and looked as though he didn't know whether to smile or cry. In the end, he did neither, choosing to hug Blaine closer still, and choke out that he loved Blaine, adding an apology for everything he'd made Blaine go through.

Kurt looked so vulnerable that Blaine wanted to wrap him in cotton wool to keep him safe for always. Since that wasn't an option, Blaine softly rubbed his nose against Kurt's and assured him of his love and understanding until Kurt looked giggly and happy again.

Blaine was surprised at how natural it felt to tell Kurt he loved him, and how deeply he felt the words as he said them.

 _How is that possible after so short a time? I guess that's what happens when you find The One._

Blaine beamed at Kurt then, happiness bubbling up inside of him, but to his surprise, Kurt looked terrified all of a sudden, clinging to Blaine like a barnacle and looking over Blaine's shoulder at… Oh… The king. Who was speaking. What was he saying? Oh. The second task is over.

 _But Mr Jones said there were three tasks, didn't he?_

And now Kurt was whispering, begging Blaine not to give up on him.

 _What? Why on earth would I?_

Kurt didn't offer any further explanation, choosing instead to claim Blaine's lips in a desperate kiss.

Blaine gladly kissed him back. After a while, the kiss grew salty, and when Blaine drew back a little, he saw that Kurt was crying.

Blaine cupped Kurt's face in his hands tenderly and was just about to ask what the matter was when the king spoke up again, announcing the start of the third task.

As soon as the announcement was made, Blaine felt a jerk just below his navel, and everything went blurry for a moment. When his vision cleared, he found himself sitting on the grass in front of the hollow cherry tree in the Ramble. He stared at it blankly.

 _Did I… Did I dream all of that?_

Blaine scrambled upright and put his arms around the tree, but nothing happened. The trunk stayed cold to the touch, and didn't yield.

 _I guess I did dream it, then…_

Blaine hoisted his backpack securely onto his shoulders again and wearily trudged home.

As he stripped down for his shower, though, he noticed he was still wearing the ring. Carefully, he took it off and put it on his nightstand, and after he'd showered and put on his pyjamas, he slid the ring back onto his finger and got into bed.

 _I hope I'm going to dream of Kurt again_.

K&B

 _"_ _It's so pretty, Mom," Kurt said. He was sitting on Elizabeth's lap and running his index finger over the ring she was wearing on her left hand._

 _"_ _The prettiest," Elizabeth agreed. "And it's very special, too. It brought me to your dad."_

 _Kurt cocked his head to the side. "It did? How?"_

 _"_ _Well… First time he met me, he didn't give me his phone number. He just gave me this ring."_

 _"_ _That's silly," Kurt scoffed._

 _Elizabeth shook her head. "It's not silly. It's tradition. It's what the Manna-hata princes have to do so that their people keep their powers."_

 _"_ _Powers?" Kurt asked._

 _"_ _The power to change into an animal," Elizabeth explained. "Or in your case, also into a tree, because you're my son, and I'm a tree nymph."_

 _"_ _And if we want to keep changing into whatever we want, we can't give anyone our phone number?" Kurt wanted to know._

 _"_ _Well, it's just the eldest prince who has to do this. The crown prince. No-one else. And it's only his soulmate he can't give his phone number."_

 _"_ _What's a soulmate?" Kurt asked._

 _"_ _It's your one true love. The one you're bound to. Your other half. The person that completes you, that will share your life and that will love you the most."_

 _"_ _Oh," Kurt said. "That sounds like a fairy tale."_

 _Elizabeth laughed. "It is. It very much is. So, your father gave me his ring. And the great thing about this ring is that it's magic. When you sing to it, it lights up, and it shows you where to go to find your soulmate. So I came here to the castle to find your dad again. And when I arrived here, your granddad was waiting for me, and told me I had a second task to do before I could be with my soulmate. Finding the castle was the first task."_

 _Kurt's mouth hung open in awe. "So what did he make you do, Mom?"_

 _"_ _I had to recognise your dad. As a dog. In a room full of dogs."_

 _Kurt giggled. "And did you?"_

 _Elizabeth gently tapped Kurt's nose and smiled at him. "Of course I did, Kurtiebug."_

 _"_ _And then you lived happily ever after?"_

 _A shadow stole over Elizabeth's face. "Not yet, we didn't. You see, there was a third task."_

 _"_ _A third?"_

 _Elizabeth nodded. "The toughest one of the three."_

 _"_ _What was it, Mom?" Kurt asked eagerly. "Did you have to fight a dragon?"_

 _Elizabeth laughed again and shook her head. "No, nothing like that."_

 _"_ _Then what?" Kurt insisted._

 _"_ _Lizzie? Kurt? It's time for school! Hurry up!"_

 _Elizabeth got up and put Kurt's lunch box in his backpack._

 _"_ _Mom!" Kurt whined. "You can't leave the story there!"_

 _"_ _Later, Kurtiebug," Elizabeth promised. "Later."_

Smiling, Blaine turned onto his other side, and the dream vanished. Half an hour later, he turned around again, and a new dream started.

 _"_ _Tell me about the ring again, Mom," Kurt begged Elizabeth._

 _"_ _Okay," Elizabeth smiled. "Did you know it makes me dream of your dad when I wear it at night?"_

 _"_ _Wow," Kurt gasped. "That's awesome."_

 _"_ _And when we were apart, it made me aware of him."_

 _"_ _Aware?" Kurt asked._

 _"_ _It made me notice him, even if he hid from me and changed into an animal so I wouldn't see him. But I did anyway. The ring would grow a bit warmer when he was near, and sometimes hum a bit too."_

 _"_ _That's so cool," Kurt said. "Why were you playing hide-and-go-seek?"_

 _Elizabeth's smile slid off her face. "Because of the third task. We had to."_

 _"_ _Play hide-and-go-seek?" Kurt asked. "But there's nothing hard about that. You said the third task was the hardest."_

 _"_ _It was," Elizabeth assured him. "We were kept apart for a long time. We weren't allowed to speak to each other, or touch each other. I think we weren't supposed to see each other either, but your dad by-passed that by changing into a robin to be close to me, and as I said, the ring warned me whenever he was near. So I would search for him and then look at him out of the corner of my eye, because I didn't want to chase him away, and once, when he came in the dead of winter, I fed him sunflower seeds. I think that scared him, though. After that, I never saw him as a robin again."_

 _"_ _Mom?" Kurt asked._

 _"_ _Yes, Kurtiebug?"_

 _"_ _Am I the crown prince?"_

 _"_ _Yes, you are," Elizabeth nodded. "When you come of age, this ring will be yours. And you'll give it to your soulmate."_

 _Kurt straightened up, his nose loftily in the air. "I don't want to give the ring to a girl. I think I'll keep it for myself."_

 _Elizabeth laughed and stroked Kurt's hair. "You could always give it to a boy instead."_

 _"_ _I can?" Kurt asked, surprised._

 _"_ _Of course you can," Elizabeth smiled._

Blaine's phone alarm went off, and Blaine groggily reached for his phone to silence it, only succeeding in knocking it off his nightstand and cursing as he hopped out of bed to retrieve it.

Once the alarm was switched off, though, Blaine smiled as he thought of the dreams he'd had that night. Kurt as a young boy was so precious. And the talk about the third task had been… Illuminating. So he and Kurt were being kept apart now. For "a long time". And they weren't allowed to touch or talk.

 _I guess there's not much else I can do but wait, then. Ugh, that sucks…_

Blaine sighed and scratched the back of his head, slouching to the kitchen to make himself some coffee and kick-start his morning before he had to go to work.

Later, as he was singing with the residents of the nursing home where he worked, he caught himself eying a dove cooing on the window sill and wondering whether it was actually Kurt in disguise. The ring felt just the same as ever, though, so it was probably just a regular dove. Blaine made himself stop gazing out of the window and focus on his music therapy session again.

 _Don't obsess over this or you'll go crazy!_

K&B

 _Three years later…_

"Seriously, Blaine, it's not healthy for you to be stuck on this guy for so long," Tina insisted. "You haven't seen him in ages. I'm sure he's moved on, and it's about time you do too. Next Friday, you have a date with my co-worker Brian. He's two years older than we are, he loves Star Wars and Harry Potter, he has a cute dog, he's great with children, and he used to play in a band when he was in college. You're a match made in heaven."

"Tina!" Blaine protested. "I don't want to be set up with a colleague of yours!"

"Tough," Tina said, rolling her eyes at him. "Friday, the Spotlight Diner, 7.30 PM. Don't you dare stand him up!"

Tina threw a handful of dollars on the counter and hopped off the bar stool before Blaine could muster up his best puppy dog look and beg off. "See you next week! You can tell me all about your date then!"

Tina disappeared with a cheery wave.

Blaine emptied his glass in one big gulp and dug into his pocket to fish out enough money to cover his drinks and a sizeable tip.

"Thanks, hottie!" the bartender said, leaning in to whisper, "Say, if you're back on the market, give me a call sometime."

The bartender slipped a business card into Blaine's chest pocket and gave Blaine a flirty wink.

"N-n-no," Blaine stammered, embarrassed. "It's not like that…"

"Elliot," the bartender supplied. "My name's Elliot."

"It's not like that, Elliot," Blaine said. "I'm in love with someone, but…"

"He doesn't love you back?" Elliot assumed.

"He does," Blaine said. "It's just… complicated."

"Well, if you want to talk about it sometime, I'm a good listener. Goes with the job."

Blaine mustered up a smile. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Good night!"

"Good night, hottie!"

K&B

By the time Friday rolled around, Blaine was a nervous wreck. He didn't want to go on this blind date Tina had set up for him, but he also didn't want to stand the poor man up.

In the end, he showed up at the diner five minutes early, and found to his relief that his date hadn't arrived yet. The only patrons at the diner were an elderly couple, a group of teenagers drinking milk shakes and a mother with her children.

Blaine ordered a coke, a burger and fries, and then started playing Angry Birds until his food or his date showed up, whichever came first.

A nervous throat-clearing had Blaine look up at a tall guy in a neat three-piece suit. He was cute, though he had nothing on Kurt.

"Are you Blaine?"

"Yes," Blaine said. "That's me. You're Brian?"

"Yes."

Brian sat down, and minutes later, the waitress brought Blaine his food and his drink.

"Uhm, I kind of already ordered," Blaine said sheepishly.

Brian shrugged. "That's okay. Can I please have the same?"

The waitress nodded and jotted it down.

"So…" Brian said a bit later.

Blaine looked up from the burger he'd been enjoying a bit too much. "Oh, sorry, I guess I was hungry."

"That's fine," Brian assured him, his fingers plucking at a napkin. "So Tina told me you're a music therapist. What's that, exactly?"

Blaine swallowed his mouthful of fries and explained about his job, and then politely inquired after Brian's, though he already knew Brian worked at the same law firm as Tina.

 _This feels so awkward. Why does it feel so awkward? Brian's nice, but something's missing…_

They had progressed to discussing their hobbies by the time the waitress came with Brian's food, and Brian seemed to enjoy the burger just as much as Blaine, though he ate a lot more messily, ending up with ketchup on his shirt.

Brian excused himself to the men's room to try and get the stain out, and Blaine looked over at the counter, mentally debating if he wanted dessert or not. On the plus side, the brownies and apple pie on display looked yummy. But did he really want to draw out this date?

And then he felt his ring grow warm and hum slightly, and his eyes widened.

 _Kurt's here?_

But before he could take a good look around, Brian was back, full of apologies, and asking Blaine if he wanted to split a piece of blueberry pie with him.

Blaine said he had his eye on the brownies, and looked around to catch the waitress' eye. The waitress was nowhere to be seen, but at the counter stood Kurt, in a waiter's uniform, his eyes glued to Blaine and his expression heart-broken.

As soon as their eyes met, Kurt panicked and high-tailed it out of the diner.

"Kurt…" Blaine whispered. He jumped off his chair and was two strides away before he remembered about Brian. He doubled back, threw some money onto the table and said to Brian, "I'm sorry, this isn't going to work out."

Then, he ran out the door and tried to trace Kurt, but it was like he'd vanished into thin air.

Defeated, Blaine walked home. Tina would have his hide for treating her colleague so badly, he was sure, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Not when he'd just had his first glimpse of Kurt in three long years.

 _Did I just mess everything up? Is Kurt ever going to forgive me for going on a date with someone else?_

A tear ran down his cheek, and he wiped it away angrily.

 _Never again. If ever Tina sets up another date for me, I'm not going. This is all her fault._

Blaine sniffled and blew his nose, and then turned into the direction of Central Park, heading straight to the Ramble and throwing his arms around the hollow cherry tree, sobbing out a tearful confession. "Oh Kurt, I miss you so. And I'm so sorry. So very sorry. Tina set me up on a blind date and then guilted me into going. I should have said no outright, I know. Next time, I will. I promise. Please forgive me."

Blaine sat down under the tree, his arms around his knees and his chin on top, and stayed there for a long time, shivering every now and then because night had fallen and he'd forgotten his jacket at the diner. Out of the blue, his ring heated up again and hummed, and Blaine looked around him, blinking his tears away, but Kurt was nowhere to be seen. Blaine sighed and buried his face in his hands. Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound, and a warm weight fell onto his shoulders.

 _Huh? What? My jacket!_

Blaine quickly slipped his arms into his jacket and sighed in satisfaction, then looked around again, but everything was quiet and dark.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Blaine whispered thickly. "I still love you, you know that, right? I always will. Don't ever doubt that. I'm never giving up on you."


	8. Chapter 8: So Tired of Waiting

**Author's Note:**

 **This chapter tells you how Kurt has spent the five-year wait :-) It also contains a shout-out to VoyageAsia/hkvoyage/voyagehk's multichapter Klaine fic Butterfly Wings. If you haven't read that one yet, do! You'll love it! Model Kurt, need I say more?**

Chapter 8: So Tired of Waiting

Getting a job at the Spotlight Diner proved easy. When Kurt stepped into the diner to apply for a job as a singing waiter, a huge fight was going on inside and just coming to its conclusion, with a plate soaring through the air, hitting a wall and breaking into a thousand pieces. The girl who had thrown the plate took off her apron, balled it up, threw it on the ground and stomped on it for good measure. "I quit."

The former waitress stalked to the back room, returned with her handbag and stalked out of the diner without another word.

The man she'd been screaming at sighed and went to fetch a broom.

"Sir?" Kurt asked tentatively.

The man turned around. "Yes?"

"I was wondering, are you by any chance hiring? I'm looking for a job."

The man looked him up and down. "Can you sing?"

"Yes, sir."

"Prove it to me."

Kurt sang a few bars of "Memory", and stopped when he saw his potential employer nodding and smiling slightly.

"What's your name?"

"Kurt, sir. Kurt Hummel."

"Call me Gunther. And you're hired. Here, you can start by sweeping up those china shards. I'll draw up a contract for you."

Kurt quickly grew accustomed to Gunther's gruffness and to his job of waiting tables. The fact that he could sing while he worked, and was even expected to do so, helped tremendously, as did his colleagues Dani and Elliot, with whom he quickly bonded and even started a band, One Three Hill. Their gigs were few and far between, though, since both of his new friends had other jobs. Dani gave yoga lessons, and Elliot was a bartender at a club a few blocks from the diner.

Kurt also scored an internship at , which was unpaid but yielded perks like access to cool parties and the Vogue fashion vault, as well as the acquiring of skills ranging from graphic design and photography to fixing hair and make-up. In his second week at Vogue, Kurt stood in for a model that had failed to show up for a shoot, and he did so well that he regularly got new modelling gigs, which provided him with a welcome second income.

Carole was as good as her word and asked Janelle if she'd accept Kurt as her roommate. The three of them met for lunch, where Kurt complimented Janelle on the scarf she was wearing, and that was enough to break the ice. By the end of their lunch, Janelle told Kurt he'd passed the roommate test with flying colours, and asked when he planned on moving in.

Kurt liked Janelle. She had fire, she had style, she had sass, and she reminded him a bit of his friend Mercedes, who'd moved to Los Angeles after high school and only came to see Kurt once every five years or so.

Another plus of being Janelle's roommate was that she saw Blaine twice a week and never failed to gush about him to Kurt, who listened eagerly to her descriptions of what Blaine had been wearing and what he'd shared about his weekend.

Once, Janelle had gotten Blaine to discuss his love life, and Kurt flat-out beamed and shed a tear when she mentioned that Blaine was apparently pining after someone, and all he'd wanted to tell her about that mysterious crush of his was that the guy in question was amazing in every way and had the most stunning blue eyes.

So Blaine hadn't forgotten about him nor given up on him. Kurt could only hope that Blaine's patience held out for the full five years.

As busy as Kurt was, he found the time to shadow Blaine on his biweekly jog in Central Park. Blaine always stopped by the Ramble whenever he went jogging, and visited the hollow cherry tree that hid the entrance to the Manna-hata Forest in pretty much the same way Kurt visited his mom's tree, hugging it and talking to it.

Kurt made sure never to come too near, so he couldn't hear what Blaine was saying, but he guessed Blaine's messages were for him, so the sight of his soulmate talking to the tree never failed to make him smile.

On days that Kurt had the late shift at the diner and wasn't needed at Vogue, he also changed into a dove to follow Blaine to work. Blaine provided musical therapy in a nursing home, for people suffering from dementia. When the windows of the music room were closed, Kurt drank in the sight of Blaine, and admired his patience and his boundless enthusiasm. When they were left open, Kurt basked in the glory that was Blaine's voice. He always stayed alert, though, and when his soulmate came too near the window, he retreated and flew away.

Whenever Kurt visited his parents, Carole shared her news about Blaine with him, too, and Kurt found that, as Carole had predicted, time flew by much faster than he'd feared, and everything went smoothly.

That's why it hit him hard like a battering ram when one night, he headed back inside at the Spotlight Diner after his break halfway through his evening shift and spotted Blaine sitting in Dani's section, with a date. Even though he'd known this would happen, Kurt found himself rooted to the spot in abject horror, staring at Blaine like he was watching a train wreck happening and feeling betrayed and terrified.

Somehow, Blaine must have felt he was being watched. He turned his head and looked straight at Kurt. Recognition and then joy sparked in Blaine's eyes, but Kurt broke the eye-contact instantly, his heart in his throat, flat out running to the door, which clanged annoyingly as Kurt slipped outside and then headed to the back entrance, hiding in the back room for a full five minutes before he entered the diner again.

Kurt thanked his lucky stars that Gunther wasn't at the diner, and that his deputy manager, Samantha, was lazy and had her eyes glued to her phone 24/7, meaning she hadn't even noticed Kurt taking a longer break than he was supposed to.

Dani raised an eyebrow at him, though, but he mouthed, "Later!"

She shrugged and announced she was taking her break now, loud enough for Samantha to hear and look up briefly.

Kurt sighed and headed towards his section, taking everyone's orders. As soon as he had a free moment, a quick look towards Blaine's table showed that his soulmate was gone. He'd probably chased after Kurt, and apparently, he'd been in such a hurry that he'd forgotten his jacket, and maybe even forgotten to say goodbye to his date, who was sitting there with an expression that was half bewildered, half disgruntled, absent-mindedly tearing a napkin to shreds and muttering to himself.

Seeing as Dani was now taking her break, Kurt stealthily took Blaine's jacket off his chair without Blaine's date noticing and laid it behind the counter. Then, he returned and cleared the table, noticing that Blaine had left enough money to pay for both meals plus a sizeable tip.

Blaine's date sighed, rubbing his temples. "I know Blaine's already paid and left, but could I please have a coffee and a piece of blueberry pie?"

"Lover's quarrel?" Kurt asked nonchalantly.

The man chuckled. "Hardly. Blind date, actually. My colleague set us up. But I got the feeling Blaine didn't really want to be here. I had to work so hard to keep the conversation going, and then… I don't know what happened. He seemed to remember something and he just got up and left, with barely a goodbye. Weird."

"Weird," Kurt agreed, his stomach doing happy somersaults. "Coffee and pie coming straight up."

Kurt put some extra whipped cream onto the slice of pie and brought it to Blaine's date with a cup of coffee.

The man smiled at him. "Thanks, I needed that."

When Kurt returned to the table after having served the other patrons, he found the man gone, but he'd left a twenty-dollar bill on the table. Kurt pocketed it gratefully.

 _The guy's quite nice, and he tips really well. Too bad for him Blaine's already taken._

The minute Kurt's shift ended, he was out the door, clutching Blaine's jacket and plotting as to how he'd get it back to Blaine.

Kurt headed to Central Park for a walk to decompress a little before he went to bed, contemplating changing into a tree for a while to feel at rest again. Those plans quickly fell by the wayside when Kurt reached the Ramble and saw Blaine sitting under the hollow cherry tree, hunched into a tiny ball of misery and staring straight ahead without seeing anything, tear streaks on his face.

Kurt tiptoed nearer, slipping behind a tree and holding his breath when Blaine suddenly looked up and looked around. After a while, Blaine sighed and let his head fall into his hands.

 _Perfect. That way, he won't see me. Better make this quick, though._

Kurt charged forward, dropped Blaine's jacket over his shoulders, making sure not to touch him, and then sped off.

The next day, he explained to Dani and an equally interested Elliot what had been going on, though he talked about a 'bad break-up' instead of explaining the insane truth, and he confessed that he still loved Blaine and really didn't want to risk running into him again and getting his heart broken anew.

"We'll look out for him and make sure you never have to see him," Dani promised. "Won't we, Elliot?"

Elliot nodded. "You'll have to show me what he looks like, though."

Kurt pulled out his phone and showed Elliot a picture he'd surreptitiously taken of Blaine one day when Blaine had fallen asleep in Central Park while resting on a bench after his jog.

"I know him," Elliot exclaimed. "Came to my bar the other day, and this friend of his set him up on a blind date, but I could tell he didn't want to go, so I slipped him my business card and told him I'd be up for some fun if he wanted another option."

Kurt sent Elliot a glare so potent that Elliot took a step back, holding his hands up in front of him in a placating gesture. "Hey, now… I though he was fair game. He told me no straightaway, though. Told me he was in love with someone, but it was 'complicated', apparently."

"That's a good word for it," Kurt sighed. "So will you help keep him away from me?"

"Sure," Elliot promised.

K&B

Next time Kurt visited his parents, he told them about running into Blaine at the diner and Blaine being on a date. "That doesn't make the third task null and void, does it?"

Burt scratched his head. "No. There's nothing in the rules about not SEEING each other. You just have to make sure you don't talk or touch."

"We didn't," Kurt assured his father. "But Blaine being on a date, doesn't that change things?"

Burt shook his head slowly. "No. As long as you're the one who has his heart, he can go on as many dates as he likes and it won't change a thing. But going by how he reacted, I don't think he'll try dating again."

Kurt sighed. "I didn't like it."

Burt ruffled through Kurt's hair, and then laughed when Kurt cursed him out and frantically attempted to fix his coif. "Of course you didn't, bud. My point is: I don't think Blaine did either. You're 'it' for each other, so no-one else he dates is going to compare to you. And hey, you're over halfway already. Less than two years to go."

"Yay," Kurt cheered listlessly, and slumped over with his head lying on his arms, a picture of despondency.

Carole ran a comforting hand over his shoulder blades. "It'll all be fine."

She only got grumpy mumbling as an answer. "What was that?"

Kurt lifted up his head. "I hate these rules. And two years, that's still ages. Why is this waiting period necessary, anyway? Who invented this torture, and why?"

Burt cleared his throat. "Our ancestors did, and it's supposed to test your soulmate's constancy. To make sure your partner is going to stay true to you."

"Huh. Who's going to 'stay true' to a one-night stand he had three years ago? Let alone five? No wonder Blaine's dating again. No wonder his friends are pushing him to. This tradition is simply insane!"

Burt chuckled. "Well, thank heavens Blaine seems to have a streak of insanity, then. He's held on this long already, and I think he'll wait out the full five years."

Kurt threw his hands in the air. "Again, why would he?"

"Because he loves you," Burt said simply. "Because the two of you clicked straightaway, and he doesn't want anyone else. He wants you. And clearly, he's more patient than you are."

"Yeah, well, don't forget, I've been waiting for him to finally pop up for over a hundred years already," Kurt snapped. "I just want to be with him now, Dad, instead of having to wait another five years."

"All right, all right, I get it," Burt conceded. "No more pep talk. Be as gloomy and weepy as you like. If you run of tissues, I'm sure we have a new box somewhere. Carole put it on the shopping list last Saturday."

K&B

During the last year of the waiting period, Kurt got a major modelling gig for the newest Hugo Boss line, and a silly behind-the-scenes video of him singing and dancing with two other models before going on the runway went viral and yielded Kurt a supporting role in a new Broadway play, which in turn earned him a Tony award. In his speech, Kurt thanked, besides his family, his best friend Rachel and his agent, also 'my soulmate Blaine'. Interviewers afterwards wanted to know who he meant, seeing as famous model and now award-winning Broadway star Kurt Hummel had never been seen with a date before and had been voted number 16 in Out Magazine's Most Eligible Bachelors List. Kurt just told them that he preferred not to discuss his private life and left it at that.

When he came home, Janelle greeted him with a squeal and a hug. "You big star, you! Are you sure you want to keep living with me? I'm sure you can afford a whole brownstone by now."

Kurt hugged her back. "I don't want a brownstone. I like living with you, so I'm staying until you kick me out."

"Or until you shack up with your 'soulmate'," Janelle drawled. "Blaine, huh? That wouldn't be hunky Blaine who volunteers at the hospital, would it?"

Kurt nodded.

Janelle gasped. "It is?! Weird. I've never seen you together. I never even guessed you knew each other. And you let me rant for hours about how hot he was and how well-dressed and how charming et cetera et cetera."

"I agreed with every word," Kurt quipped, winking at her, and she burst out laughing.

"Well, anyway, a bouquet of flowers came for you just an hour ago. There was no card. I put them in a vase on the dining table."

"Thanks."

When Kurt saw the yellow and red roses, he swallowed with difficulty, his throat clogging up with tears, thinking of a conversation he'd had with Blaine almost five years ago.

 _"_ _I just… I love New York, you know?" Blaine gushed. "After growing up in Ohio, it's so great to come here and see gay couples holding hands on the sidewalk and making out and playing Frisbee with their dog and their children in the park, without ever getting side-eyed, or worse. You know?"_

 _Kurt hummed in understanding._

 _"_ _This place feels so full of possibilities. Like, if I wanted to get married tomorrow, I could just go to the city hall and do it without anyone batting an eye."_

 _Kurt laughed. "Might want to find someone to marry first, though. I thought you said you were single?"_

 _Blaine shrugged. "I am, yes. But I want to get married someday, and it's so great to know that I totally can, here, and no-one will think it's weird or wrong."_

 _"_ _So what kind of man do you want to marry?" Kurt wanted to know._

 _"_ _Ideally, my best friend," Blaine mused. "I want to get to know someone and become friends first. Best friends. And then let it evolve into more. They say that love is friendship set on fire, don't they? Well, that's what I want. And then, if I'd buy flowers for my love, I'd buy him roses in yellow and red. Yellow for friendship, and red for passion."_

Kurt buried his nose in the flowers and breathed in deeply. _Less than a month to go now_ …

K&B

Five years to the day on which Blaine fulfilled the first and the second task, Kurt found himself in the reception room of the castle, sumptuously decorated and filled with family and friends and tables decked out for a festive dinner.

Kurt was dressed to the nines, in a purple shirt and a turquoise textured blazer with matching pants, and was toying nervously with the heart brooch on his chest pocket.

Carole checked her watch and nudged Burt. "It's time."

Burt cleared his throat and announced loudly. "This concludes the third and final task."

The next moment, Blaine stood in the room, his expression bewildered and his left arm raised with the hand curled into a fist, as if he'd been about to knock on a door. He was wearing a dark blue vest, a multi-coloured bow tie and a yellow suit that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, but strangely worked for him.

"Blaine," Kurt breathed, stepping towards him.

Blaine's face lit up in a breath-taking smile. "Kurt… Does this mean… The wait is over?"

"It's over," Kurt confirmed.

Before he could lose his nerve, Kurt got down on one knee and took Blaine's hand. "Blaine… I know this has been a crazy ride, and I know I've technically already given you the ring, but… Will you marry me?"

Blaine's eyes widened and filled with tears, and then he was on his knees too, hugging Kurt as if he never wanted to let go and sobbing. "Yes, yes, yes. Whenever you want."

Kurt cupped Blaine's face in shaky hands and kissed him, lingering perhaps a bit longer than was polite in company, but he so didn't care.

When they came up for air, Blaine was smiling again, radiantly.

"Whenever I want, huh?" Kurt asked. "Would you marry me right now? I planned a party for our reunion and maybe engagement, if you said yes, but celebrating our wedding today would be even better."

Blaine looked around the room, taking in all the decorations and all the people present. "Mom? Coop? What are you doing here?"

Pam Anderson, beaming, came to wrap her youngest son into her arms, and Cooper followed suit.

"Getting hitched to Broadway's new darling, huh?" Cooper said, clapping Blaine on the back. "Having a famous brother wasn't enough for you, squirt?"

Blaine let out a short startled laugh, and turned back to Kurt. "Of course I'll marry you right now. I've waited for you for five years, now I want to be with you every day for the rest of my life."

Kurt smiled tremulously and reeled Blaine in for another kiss, and then one more, because he really couldn't help himself. "Me too."


	9. Chapter 9: Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

 **A short last chapter to wrap things up nicely :-) I hope you enjoyed this story. By all means, let me know what you think!**

Chapter 9: Happily Ever After

After the diner incident, Blaine told Tina not to set him up again, and he was careful never to go near the Spotlight Diner again.

 _I'm not going to make things harder for you than they already are, my love. I see you in my dreams every night. That will have to do until we can be together for real._

Apart from his dreams, Blaine had Janelle, who sometimes chatted with him about her roommate, Kurt, who'd suspiciously moved in with Janelle within a week of Blaine meeting his soulmate. As soon as Blaine deduced from Janelle's descriptions that her roommate was his Kurt, he made sure to tell Janelle that he didn't date around because he'd fallen in love with a beautiful blue-eyed man who was perfect in any way, whom he was hoping to make his boyfriend one day.

 _Fingers crossed that she tells him…_

And of course, ever so often, his ring would alert him to the fact that Kurt was near. In the beginning, Blaine would frantically look around as soon as he felt the ring growing warm, only to find that the heat disappeared after a few seconds.

Knowing that he had a higher chance of spotting Kurt if he pretended not to have noticed anything special, Blaine learnt to check his surroundings stealthily. He found that Kurt appeared as a dove on Monday and Friday mornings, while Blaine was working at the nursing home. The ring only felt Kurt's presence when the window was open in the music room, so whenever possible, Blaine cranked it open a little, claiming that the room felt stuffy and overly hot.

Whenever Blaine went jogging, he noticed Kurt jumping around as a squirrel or pretending to be an excitable pet dog let off the leash. Puppy dog Kurt was adorable, and Blaine took to reciting the rules under his breath and jogging a bit faster than he actually was comfortable with in order to resist petting his soulmate. _No talking, no touching! No talking, no touching!_

And then Kurt suddenly rose to fame as a model and as a Broadway star. Blaine bought a copy of every magazine that featured Kurt in it, and went to see his soulmate shine on stage as many times as his wallet allowed, focussing less on the words and the plots than on Kurt's mesmerising voice and graceful lithe figure.

When Kurt got nominated for a Tony, Blaine knew that it was more than deserved, and watched the ceremony with bated breath, cheering when Kurt won.

Blaine almost fell off the sofa when Kurt mentioned his 'soulmate Blaine' in his speech, his jaw slack and his eyes bulging out.

 _Now I'm really glad I sent Kurt flowers. Does this mean he already got them?_

The next time Blaine went to the hospital, Janelle lit into him for not telling her he was dating Kurt. "Seriously, Blaine, I felt like such a fool. I've been talking about you to Kurt and about Kurt to you, and you've probably laughed at me behind my back the whole time."

"No!" Blaine shook his head fervently. "We would never!"

Janelle appeared slightly mollified by his vehement protest, but insisted on hugging it out. "You know, you don't always have to stay at your place because of me. As long as you're not too loud, feel free to stay over at mine and Kurt's."

Blaine blushed and stammered that he'd think about it, which made Janelle giggle.

K&B

Though Blaine was waiting patiently for the third task to be over, he counted the days, weeks, months, and years that separated him from Kurt. One year bled into two, then three, then four, and then Kurt was all over the place, his face adorning bus stops and countless magazine covers, which only intensified Blaine's longing to see his face for real, and get to touch it.

When the day dawned that marked five years of waiting, Blaine decided to risk it all and go see Kurt at Janelle's place. If Kurt reacted the same way as he had in the diner, Blaine could always turn around and leave without saying anything.

Accordingly, Blaine dressed up to the nines, choosing a yellow suit because it was such a sunny, optimistic colour, and headed to Janelle's in the evening.

Just when he was about to knock on the door, he felt a weird swooping sensation in his stomach, and everything went fuzzy for a moment.

Blaine heard a soft voice say his name, turned his head in that direction, and saw to his delight that it was Kurt. Still, he had to make sure, so he asked if the wait was over, and Kurt assured him it was.

And then Kurt was suddenly on one knee before him, and asking Blaine to marry him. Blaine, completely overwhelmed, flung his arms around Kurt and burst into tears, hardly managing to choke out his "Yes".

Clearly, the surprises didn't end there. Kurt asked if they could get married straightaway, and made Blaine look around at the tastefully decorated room - _I'm at the castle? How did I get here?_ \- and the mouth-watering food on the tables and all the people looking at them with happy smiles. Some of those faces were more than familiar, and Blaine's mom and brother were quick to hug and congratulate him.

Blaine's mind was reeling, but it took only one look into his fiancé's eyes to ground him and to know that, in his heart, he felt married already, to this wonderful man, so the wedding was really only an afterthought and couldn't take place fast enough.

Burt and Carole claimed a hug from Blaine, too, and Burt said he'd be happy to officiate. "Carole and Kurt forced me into this monkey suit anyway, so I'm dressed for the part."

The rest of the evening passed in a happy blur. They used the classic wedding vows, and Kurt slid his heirloom ring officially onto Blaine's left ring finger, while Blaine took out of his chest pocket the engagement ring he'd bought and used it as a wedding ring for Kurt instead.

Blaine was then introduced to Kurt's family and friends, and they shared a tasty meal and danced well into the night.

When finally, all the guests started trickling away in twos and threes, Kurt whispered into Blaine's ear, "Let's get out of here, too."

Kurt took Blaine to his room in the castle, stripped for him slowly and sensually and then proceeded to peel Blaine out of his suit in a way that had Blaine panting and on edge within seconds.

Kurt didn't let up with the teasing after that, exploring every inch of Blaine reverently and skilfully and backing off every time Blaine was close to coming, until he was just about to explode. Then, Kurt sank down on him and rode him until Blaine came so hard he saw stars.

Coming down from his high, Blaine pulled Kurt closer against him and kissed him lazily. "I've been dreaming of this for years."

Kurt smiled widely. "And did it live up to your expectations?"

Blaine grinned. "It so did. Totally worth the wait."

THE END


	10. One-Shot: Quite a Surprise

Author's Note: This is a one-shot in the Worth the Wait verse from Pam's point of view, providing another glimpse at the proposal and the wedding. Enjoy!

This is dedicated to lallagoglee and sunshunes, who recently celebrated their birthday.

Quite a Surprise

Pam looked around her, admiring the tasteful decorations. The room was huge, yet it wasn't draughty in the least, unlike the medieval castles Pam had visited all over Europe.

At first sight, the blocky grey building had seemed forbidding – a fortress, only meant to house soldiers – and she'd wondered why on earth anyone would hire this venue for an engagement party. Surely, the Plaza was way more elegant, and probably cheaper than this.

Then, she'd been escorted inside, and she'd started to see just why Blaine's boyfriend – _what was his name again? I'll have to ask Cooper_ – had chosen to have the party here. No, there were no crystal chandeliers nor gold-plated crown mouldings, and the floors weren't gleaming patterned hardwood. But there were soft carpets and beautiful antique furniture, the ceiling boasted intricate detailing, and there were flowers in vibrant colours, their sweet smell following you everywhere. This place had character and heart, and Pam approved.

The invitation had come as quite a surprise. Well, that was an understatement. It had come as a lightning bolt from a clear sky. Pam hadn't even known Blaine was seeing someone, so to find out that they'd been together for five years and that they were so serious that Blaine's boyfriend – _Keith? Was it Keith?_ – was planning on proposing, well… That had been quite a shock.

When Keith – _or Carl? Something like that_ – had turned up on Pam's doorstep, she had even asked if he was quite sure he was talking to the right person. "I'm sorry for asking, sweetie, but Blaine has never said a WORD about you."

But Carl – _or Kit maybe?_ – had assured her that it was really her son he was dating, showing her a picture of Blaine on a bench in Central Park, headphones in his ears, listening to the music with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

Kit – _or was it Ken?_ – had looked at the picture with so much affection that Pam felt like she was intruding on a private moment.

It really was Blaine, then. The question remained why Blaine hadn't breathed a word about this.

Pam had invited the man in, and had offered him tea and cookies. Ken – _or Knox, perhaps?_ – had complimented Pam on her great sense of style, telling her that he loved her accessories, and talking very knowledgeably about scarves and handbags and pumps that fit every occasion. From there, the conversation went to the interior decoration of her sitting room, which Knox – _could it be Cal?_ – also seemed to love, if his gushing was any indication.

Pam had probed a little to find out how Blaine and Cal – _Cash?_ – had met, and out had poured the whole story of how they'd literally bumped into each other.

Cash – _could have been Klaus, too, now that I think of it, it sounded kind of German_ – had talked about their mutual love of music, and how admirable he found it that Blaine volunteered at the hospital, and how sweet he was to both the elderly people he worked with and the children.

That led to Klaus – _Quill?_ – discussing his work as a model and a Broadway star, his eyes shining as he went into detail about the new play he was workshopping, and how talented and nice his co-stars were.

Pam had found herself smiling unconsciously at Quill's – _Calum's?_ – enthusiasm, half won over already by this future son-in-law.

Her dog Prissy needed no more convincing. Prissy was draped over Calum's – _Cole's?_ – lap, enjoying an expert belly rub that made her tongue loll out of her mouth.

Pam remembered thinking, _He likes animals, too. Good. Let's see if he's handy and into gardening too, then he's a keeper._

When Cole – _Kyle?_ – left later that afternoon, he'd expertly fixed a sagging kitchen cabinet and he'd advised her to try growing her basil on the window sill in the kitchen instead of outside with the other herbs. "It will do better inside – it can't stand the cold."

Kyle – _or was it Connor?_ – had been right about that, too. The pot with basil was now growing so many leaves she couldn't use them all up before they wilted.

Yes, Connor or whatever his name was had all the makings of a perfect son-in-law, so Pam really couldn't fathom why Blaine hadn't told her about his boyfriend.

Unless…

When Blaine had come out, Edward had told him he could be as gay as he wanted as long as he never subjected his family to it. "Keep your lifestyle private."

Ugh, Pam could still remember the disgust on Edward's face, and how Blaine had shrunk when he saw it, his eyes glassy and his shoulders slumping in defeat. That was the first day Pam had thought of leaving her husband.

As soon as Edward had disappeared into his study after that conversation, Pam had rushed to Blaine and hugged him tightly as he wept. Only, she'd never outright told Blaine that it didn't matter to her whom he loved, and that she only wanted him to be happy. He had never brought up the subject again, and neither had she. Not then, and not later.

And only now it dawned on Pam that maybe Blaine thought she shared Edward's opinion. That she didn't want to be confronted with the fact that he was gay. Maybe he felt obliged to keep his relationship under wraps because it was a man he was seeing.

Pam's hand flew over her mouth, and she repressed a sob with difficulty. _Oh, my sweet darling boy! I'll make sure to talk to you about this tonight… I feel terrible… You should never have been made to feel like you had to censor yourself around me. I really don't care whom you love, as long as they make you happy._

"Would you care for a glass of champagne, ma'am?"

Pam looked up and accepted a glass from the waitress. Next to her, a tall blonde girl took a glass too, and smiled at Pam. "You're Blaine's mom."

Pam raised an eyebrow.

"He looks just like you," the girl went on. "The same eyes and the same smile."

Pam nodded.

The girl pointed to Cooper. "Is that Blaine's brother?"

"Yes, that's Cooper," Pam answered. "And you are?"

Cooper, hearing his name, came to join them. "Did you call me, Mom? Who's this?"

"I'm Brittany," the girl introduced herself. "I'm Kurt's cousin."

 _Kurt! That was it! Thank you, Brittany!_

"Well, hello there!" Cooper beamed. "I guess you recognised me, did you? Give me your phone, we can take a selfie together."

Brittany looked a bit puzzled, but handed over her phone. "Maybe we'd better step outside? There isn't much light here."

Brittany put Pam's arm in the crook of her elbow and tugged her out of the room. Cooper shrugged and followed, and once they were outside, they all smiled for the picture.

"I always love meeting a fan," Cooper said to Brittany.

Brittany frowned a little, and Pam repressed a giggle. Clearly, the girl had no idea who Cooper was, beyond the fact that he was Blaine's brother. Pam hoped Brittany wouldn't say so outright, though, or he would be devastated. Both of her boys wanted to be universally liked, but unlike Blaine, Cooper didn't seem to realise that was an impossible goal, and anything less than adoration always hit him hard.

Just when Brittany opened her mouth to answer Cooper, a loud voice rang out, and Brittany clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, Blaine's here! Come on, we don't want to miss the proposal!"

They hurried back inside, and yes, Blaine had arrived. He was smiling radiantly and wearing an eye-catching yellow suit Pam had never seen on him before. Her heart hurt again when she realised he only ever wore muted colours when he came to visit her. Was that again because his father had told him not to flaunt his sexuality?

And then his boyfriend – _Kurt!_ _I mustn't forget his name again now_ – dropped to one knee, and Pam let out a happy little squeak and clapped a hand over her mouth.

Kurt spoke too quietly for her to make out the words, but there was no mistaking Blaine's reaction, all smiles and hugs and happy tears, and then a kiss that – _Oh my!_ – wasn't really meant for public consumption.

After that, Kurt said something else to Blaine that made his jaw drop and made him look around the room with a dazed expression, overwhelmed in the best of ways. His face lit up when he saw his mom and his brother.

Pam hurried towards Blaine, Cooper in her wake, and she hugged her youngest son tightly, whispering in his ear, "I'm so happy for you, honey bee!"

Cooper, too, was quick to offer his support, and Blaine shed a few more tears, and then turned back to Kurt to announce, loud enough for everyone to hear, that he'd gladly marry Kurt that very minute.

Pam, taking this as a figure of speech, smiled indulgently at Blaine's enthusiasm, and Kurt's too, when he started kissing Blaine again as if they had no audience.

It seemed as though she were the only one who'd taken Blaine's answer figuratively, though. Kurt's parents came to hug and congratulate the new fiancés as well, and in the same breath, Kurt's dad offered to officiate the wedding, seeing as he was dressed for the part anyway.

And before Pam knew it, her baby boy was exchanging vows with Kurt, and she couldn't help tearing up at how perfect it all was and how incandescently happy they both looked.

The dinner that followed was better than anything she'd ever eaten at the Plaza, and she enjoyed getting to know Carole and Burt and their other son and his family.

Burt and Carole were delightful, down-to-earth people, happy to chat about Kurt and Finn and their grandchildren.

Pam won over Kurt's nephews by drawing them a lion, an elephant and a giraffe, and telling them about a safari she'd been on with her parents. Finn seemed just as engrossed as his sons, listening with his mouth half open and a lopsided smirk.

Rachel came across as self-involved at first, talking about her successes on Broadway and the West End, but when Pam got her talking about Kurt, she proved a veritable gold mine of information. Apparently, she was Kurt's best friend, and she told Pam no end of anecdotes about their high school and college years.

As Kurt's self-appointed maid of honour, Rachel stood up to give a speech, too, moving everyone to tears as she recalled growing up with Kurt, who was the best of friends and the best of sons and brothers, but had always seemed so lonely before he met Blaine, determined as he was to find his Mr Right. She spoke of Kurt and Blaine's love and dedication to each other, and what a perfect fit they were, like two halves of a whole. And then she called on Kurt to sing with her once more, for old times' sake, and Pam's mouth fell open when they started singing. Both of their voices were mesmerising and beautiful in their own way, and as they weaved together in flawless harmony, Pam got goose-bumps.

" _Because I knew you…_

 _I have been changed for good._ "

The applause they got was deafening, and of course Cooper couldn't resist chiming in for his turn in the spotlight, sharing funny stories about Blaine when he was little, and before long, they were all laughing, even Blaine, though he was blushing too, and hiding his eyes behind his hands.

Kurt kissed Blaine sweetly and then whispered something in his ear. They stood up and made their way to the cake to cut it and feed each other a piece, to encouraging hollers and applause.

Kurt, apparently, had a sweet tooth. He ate not one, but two pieces of cake, and only refrained from eating a third because then he wouldn't be able to get up and dance anymore.

The newly-weds' first dance was surprisingly well-coordinated and elaborate for being thought up on the fly. They twirled around the dance floor as though they did so every night – _Did they?_ – and Blaine dipped Kurt at the end, making everyone go 'Aww'.

Then Blaine came to invite Pam for a dance, and she made the most of the opportunity to tell Blaine that she loved Kurt already, and that she was over the moon to see him so happy.

Pam left not too long after that, making sure to exchange phone numbers with Carole and Rachel, and giving Blaine and Kurt the key to her vacation home on St. Barts, and telling them they could use it as long as they wanted for their honeymoon.

"And you can use my frequent flyer miles to get there," Cooper chimed in.

Blaine thanked them and hugged them both fiercely, tears in his eyes once again.

Pam looked back once more before leaving the ballroom, and saw Kurt and Blaine slow-dancing, fused together so closely that it was impossible to see where the one left off and the other began. They weren't talking, just looking at each other with such a reverent, loving expression that Pam felt like she was trespassing just watching the intimate moment they shared. She hurriedly turned around and let herself be escorted out of the castle.

 _I'm so glad Blaine has finally found his match. I wonder how soon would be too soon to start hinting about how much I'd like to have grandchildren?_


End file.
